


Imaginatio

by MilayaMilenZeal, Night_the_Dragon



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: And anything else that I may come up with later, Carby!Noctis, Carby!Regis, Dream hopping, Dreaming, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-02-04 19:22:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18610912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilayaMilenZeal/pseuds/MilayaMilenZeal, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Night_the_Dragon/pseuds/Night_the_Dragon
Summary: Insomnia is a city of Dreams, with the Royal Family of Lucis Caelum providing its subjects with pleasant dreams. However, the Crown Prince of Lucis has been known, amongst his closest friends, to go out “dream hopping”. Through this, he runs into a young man suffering from daily nightmares, and he makes it his goal to get rid of them by any means necessary.





	1. Insomnia

**Author's Note:**

> I blame Play-Asia for this story for putting THIS (https://www.play-asia.com/final-fantasy-xiv-emerald-carbuncle-costume-set/13/70cocl?ref=summary&sc1=102715663) in my Personal Agent emails.
> 
> Also, yes, I DID in fact pre-order one of them...

_“So pretty!” the little girl called out as she ran around, her hands spread out to the heavens – or more specifically the butterflies fluttering around her – as she twirled around with her pretty dress fluttering about her feet. “I love it here!”_

_Noctis smiled softly as he watched her run around. Children were always so easily entertained; girls would usually be happy with anything glittering or colorful, while boys would be satisfied with some cars, trains, or anything really that would be even slightly tech-related. Children’s dreams were always so much more fun to explore than those of adults, mostly because of the little they really still knew of the world. Adults would start to demand more and more of their dreams, and while that was fun every now and again, it was also very predictable, and adults were just… **never** satisfied._

_It was exhausting, to be honest…_

_Kids were just so much easier to deal with… and a lot more genuine with their emotions, Noctis had noticed. Which was exactly why he loved it so much to ‘hop’ into their dreams every so often._

_Most people couldn’t see him; adults surely couldn’t, and most kids were too ecstatic about their environment to take notice, and the few that did notice rarely paid him much mind for long. As such, he didn’t often interact with the dreams (plus it wasn’t allowed, anyway), but that was fine; he was content with watching, anyway._

_Smiling, he watched the girl running off to have fun in her dream, Noctis flicked his tail behind him and hopped up to the nearby tree, and then began to walk along the branches, looking for some new dreams to explore tonight._

 

Insomnia was known by many as a “City of Dreams”, where the Royal Family of Lucis Caelum would cast a spell on their subjects at night. This spell allowed the people of Insomnia to have pleasant dreams throughout the night, which helped to improve their quality (and enjoyment) of life. This, in turn, helped to make them happier and more pleasant people, as well as more loyal to the Royal Family.

All in all, it was really a win-win situation for everyone involved, although no one was really sure just why the Royals were even doing all of this in the first place.

What most people of Insomnia didn’t know, though, was that the Crown Prince of Lucis had the tendency to “dream hop”.

 

Noctis lightly hopped across the rooftops, his bare feet not making a single noise as he moved along the surface. He lazily balanced himself along the thin railing lining the solar panels installed there, not bothered in the slightest as he held out his arms up at shoulder level as his tail swayed behind him with every step he took. His ears were up high, perked to listen for the sound of pleasant dreams in the surrounding houses.

He wasn’t afraid that people would see him; even if they were to look up, no one would be able to see his Astral Projection, anyway. And even if they did, they’d probably chalk it up to some weird dream. After all, humans didn’t have bushy tails or huge, furry ears, or even a crystal lodged in their forehead.

As he reached the end of the roof, Noctis adjusted his stance, swishing his tail behind him, before he effortlessly jumped over to the next roof.

There were plenty of people sleeping around, and just as many dreaming, but, honestly, none of them seemed _that_ interesting. It was really more of the same old same old that he’d seen way too many times before. This was as far out as he’d ever gone, and he’d been hoping to find something new… something _fresh_ , but so far, he was having zero luck.

Then he stopped, his ears going up completely and then flicking left and right quickly, trying to catch what he had just heard. Noctis was used to hearing all sorts of different ‘dream resonances’, as his family called them, but this sound… he wasn’t sure what it was, but something was… “off” about it.

He twisted his ear to his right, finally catching the sound again, before he turned to it and hopped off to where it was coming from, leaping across the rooftops in the direction of the resonance. When he finally found it, he paused.

The house he was on was a family home for sure… but there was only _one_ resonance. Just one…

Slowly, Noctis moved to the edge of the roof, ears flicking slowly, as he moved to hands and knees and moved to the edge. Then he moved over it until he was effectively hanging in front of the window on that side allowing him to peek inside.

Inside was a young man, with golden blonde hair that was sweat-dampened and plastered to his face, as he was writhing and thrashing in bed, despite being asleep. He let out an occasional pained/terrified cry in his sleep when he would stiffen, and it was clear he was having one hell of a nightmare.

This had Noctis tilting his head a bit, before he, effortlessly, slipped inside through the (closed) window (it really pays off to have an ethereal form at night). As he touched down on the ground, he walked over to the blonde man, watching with curious eyes.

Of course, he knew what a nightmare was, even if he’d never had one or experienced one of any of his subjects. Nightmares were so rare in Insomnia, that it was easier to find someone awake at night, working the early hours of the morning. So why was this guy – who he believed to be about 18 or so – having one? And a pretty bad one to boot…

Suddenly, the blonde’s eyes snapped open as he gave a sharp gasp, revealing bright blue eyes that were shining with terror, and had a hint of exhaustion in them. His gaze flicked around the room rapidly, as if searching for something. Obviously, he wasn’t seeing Noctis, since his eyes moved right over him, and finally, when he couldn’t seem to find whatever he was looking for, he settled back down with a whimper.

This had Noctis frowning in worry. He had never really seen anyone being affected by a nightmare, as his father’s spell was supposed to be powerful enough to affect everyone in Insomnia to allow them their peaceful sleep, and he hadn’t expected the effects of one to be so severe. The exhaustion he had spotted was familiar, though; he’d seen it on people who would try to skimp out on the amount of sleep their body needed so they could finish that _one_ thing they felt had to be finished before bedtime. But Noctis was pretty sure that this boy’s exhaustion had nothing to do with finishing things that were left undone, and had more to do with nightmares.

Which meant that he had likely been having these nightmares for a while already.

Now, normally, Noctis would never dare attempt to orchestrate a dream for someone without the supervision of his father, but he was pretty sure that by the time he got back home and got his father’s permission and guidance, the sun would be coming up already and the whole thing would be pointless. And he was NOT willing to leave this boy on his own now…

‘ _Okay!_ ’ he thought, clapping his hands (soundlessly) as he looked around the room a little more. ‘ _Let’s see what he likes first so I can get a basic hint of what to get him…_ ’

Humans were relatively simple creatures at times, Noctis had learned; they’d keep all sorts of trinkets around their personal “havens”, making the space entirely their own and making it very obvious (to those like Noctis, anyway) what things made them happy. Children had this a lot more, of course, but even adults would have this tendency to hoard things that they wanted to have near them at all times. This made it _very_ easy for those of Lucis Caelum to find that which they could use to shape the dream to the dreamer’s liking.

It wasn’t often needed, but in cases like this, it certainly helped.

As Noctis looked around the bedroom a little more, he soon noticed some magazines on the nearby desk. And a quick glance over revealed them to be about Chocobos, with a few more of them about photography, and even some amazing photos of Chocobos themselves.

‘ _Ah cool! Pretty sure I can do Chocobos, no problem._ ’

Grinning excitedly, Noctis then moved over to the bed and got on top of it, and subsequently the boy as well. Not that he noticed that, but hey.

He could already hear the nightmares rolling in again to take hold of the boy, but Noctis wasn’t about to let them do that.

Mind made up, he dipped his head down so that the gem on his forehead was ‘pressed’ up against the blonde boy’s forehead. It was already glittering with its ruby light, as his irises filled his entire eyes until it was almost a pure dark blue, the red light from his gem adding a mystical shine to them.

‘ _Alright… here we go…_ ’

 

_Sleep has never been easy for Prompto; every other night, without fail, he’d find himself having some sort of nightmare of some variety. They were often very vague, and often times he couldn’t even remember what they were about. He’d just wake up alone, afraid, and would spend minutes, sometimes even hours, looking for something that simply wasn’t there to hurt him._

_Honestly, he’d hoped that, with his family moving into Insomnia, the nightmare would **stop** … but it didn’t matter what he did; the nightmares would just follow him. Heck, they’d even taken some severely dark turns before since they’d come here… and especially with his parents not being around as often anymore._

_And this wasn’t any better…_

_This new nightmare – well… not “new-new”, really… – had only taken barely a few minutes (or so he believed) to show up after falling back asleep. He was back to being a little kid again, as was kinda normal for most of them, and he wasn’t entirely sure how he’d come to be there, but that really wasn’t important. The important part was that his mom was yelling at him about things he didn’t (or couldn’t) understand. And worse, was that his mind wouldn’t get it through to him properly that none of what he was seeing was real…_

_“How could you do this to us?! Is this how you repay us after all we’ve done for you!? I wish we’d never taken you with us, you useless brat!” his mom shouted, while his dad glared at him close behind her. The young teen felt tears burning in his eyes, before flowing freely, terrified, as his vision began to grow blurry._

_And then, just as suddenly as his nightmare had seemed to begin… it ended and there was only silence and darkness._

_‘ **Wha…?** ’ Prompto thought, confused. As he looked around, trying to figure out what had just happened, he took notice of two things;_

_1, he was back to being 18 again (which was a good thing)._

_And 2, he was in pitch-blackness (which was not as good a thing…)._

_That alone didn’t make sense, until his mind kicked in and he realized that this wasn’t actually real and that this **had** to be a nightmare. There was just no way for it to make any other sense otherwise._

_Just as that realization came to him, though, he heard something heavy thud against the ground up ahead in the darkness. Something that was getting closer… and closer…_

_‘ **Oh no…** ’ the blonde whimpered fearfully, unable to even try to make a run for it._

_The sound stopped then. Stopped almost two feet in front of him, and Prompto stiffened, scared spitless by now._

_But then, something moved toward him, pushing aside the random foliage that had made the whole surrounding area as black as night, shook around a bit. And then…_

_“…Kweh?”_

_“…!” Prompto jolted, shocked. He’d **never** had a Chocobo in his dreams before, so how was this happening? Tentatively, the teen reached out, hoping this wasn’t a trick of his subconscious to torment him further. Though, to be fair, knowing this wasn’t real was one worry off his mind (for now, anyway)._

_As his hand came closer, what he believed to be the Chocobo’s head tilted sideways, curious, before it chirped and moved further forward, bumping its head into the blonde’s hand. This, naturally, had Prompto jumping a little, still shocked, before a tiny, faint smile curved his lips, and he started to move toward the Chocobo so he could pet it a little better._

_Chirping happily, the Chocobo, in turn, backed up, letting Prompto step out from the foliage… right into the clearing where all of its friends were also wandering around._

_“Ah…!” the blonde gasped, nearly screaming excitedly, but holding it in since he didn’t want to scare the large birds away. Anyone watching could clearly see the pure child-like excitement on his face, and he was almost dancing in place before he was able to find the courage to go over to them._

_Shockingly, none of the birds seemed to even care much about the obvious excitement the blonde was showing. Instead, when he approached, they would turn their heads to him curiously for a moment, before taking the few steps needed to face him properly and chirp at him… almost as if they were all greeting him._

_Prompto reached out to pet one of the closest ones, true wonder in his bright blue gaze, as the bird lowered its head to let him. And as soon as he touched the smooth feathers, the bird shut its eyes and gave a happy trilling noise._

_“You’re so sweet…” Prompto finally murmured, smiling wider._

_“Kweeeh~” the bird chirped._

_The teen’s gaze softened, even as he pressed his forehead to the Chocobo’s. As he held his head there, though, he spotted something from the corner of his eye, making him look over. It took him a moment, but, finally, he caught what he had spotted._

_Sitting under the foliage of a brush, was some sort of fox-like creature, with large ears and a bushy tail, as well as… wait was that a glowing red crystal on its forehead??_

_Prompto tilted his head curiously when he saw it, watching the fox-creature calmly. It was adorable, but he didn’t know what to make of it._

_“Hey buddy,” he called to it with a warm smile, hoping that him doing that wouldn’t scare it off (dream or not). “What are you doing over there?”_

_The creature blinked its huge eyes at Prompto, tilting its head to the side almost a full 90 degrees. Its tail was swaying a bit beside it as it remained there._

_“…Kweh?” the Chocobo chirped in question, watching Prompto with its own head tilted._

_“Sorry, big guy,” the blonde apologized, resuming petting the Chocobo with a fond smile._

_“Kweh~” it chirped merrily._

_The fox-creature, meanwhile, didn’t move much aside from its tail flicking a bit. However, Prompto **did** notice how the crystal on its head seemed to shimmer briefly. Not that he had long to think on it, as another Chocobo suddenly came up behind him and pushed its head through his legs and lifted him up onto its back with a chipper cry._

_“Wah!” Prompto yelped, before settling on the bird’s back with a laugh._

_“Kweh~” the bird chirped, with the other birds crying out as well. Which was before they all began to run off, chirping loudly as though they were calling everyone else out to come join them in a race._

_This had the teen laughing merrily as he rode the Chocobo he was on, having a complete blast. In all honesty, he was so happy, and never wanted this to end._

_And as he went, he never noticed the fox-creature smiling from its spot as it watched the birds running off, before it turned and walked away again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I'm not 100% sure yet where this is going, so if you have any ideas, or if you just want to see more of this, please let us know and we'll work something out.


	2. Meeting

As morning came, Noctis groaned sleepily as he buried his face further into his pillow, pressing his ears down to block out the sounds of the world waking up outside. He was so _not_ in the mood to get up just yet…

Sadly, he wasn’t given the time to properly spend the day in bed, as his blanket was abruptly yanked away, causing his tail to immediately fluff up in alarm. “Gah! _Iggy!!_ ” he exclaimed loudly as he glared at the man.

“Yes, good morning to you as well, Noct,” the bespectacled man said calmly, unimpressed by the younger’s glare. “If you’re awake enough to glare at me, you’re awake enough to get up. I’ll see you downstairs.”

The only thing Noctis said in response was an angry grumble as the advisor headed out again. Still, Noctis groaned as he stretched out his arms over his head, figuring that he should probably get up now that most people were doing the same thing. There wasn’t really any use to dream hopping when there were no dreams to hop into.

After washing up and getting dressed, Noctis fixed his hair a bit around his ears, thinking about what was on the agenda today. He was pretty sure he didn’t have any meetings he had to be present for, which meant he likely had training with Gladio today, at the very least.

‘ _Joy…_ ’

Sighing, Noctis finally just got his shoes on and headed down the stairs to get some breakfast.

 

As the sunlight gradually filtered in through the window, Prompto’s alarm began to beep at exactly 6 AM, awakening him from his slumber.

‘ _Ugh… Time to go to school once again…_ ’ the blonde thought tiredly, smacking his hand on the alarm clock, shutting it off before sitting up with a wide yawn. As he got up to get dressed, though, he spotted the magazines scattered over his desk. Or, more specifically, the Chocobo magazines.

This instantly reminded him of his somehow amazingly good dream he’d had, and he felt himself pondering it. How _had_ he managed to actually have a good dream for once in his life? He hadn’t actually had anything besides nightmares in so long. At least, not since he was a little kid way back, and this made the happy feeling in the morning feel almost foreign. Shaking it off to get dressed for the day, Prompto couldn’t help but think it was, more than likely, a one-time thing, and would never happen again, sadly. After all, he’d never been able to remain truly happy…

Once he got downstairs, he wasn’t surprised to find himself completely alone, once again, leaving him to prepare not just breakfast, but also his school lunch all on his own. Not an unusual thing, unfortunately, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant. The teen then began to fix some toast with jam for breakfast, munching on that while preparing his lunch for the day.

Once he was done with that, it was off to school. Something that, honestly, he was not looking forward to.

 

When Noctis got down to the dining hall, he was pleasantly surprised when he realized it wasn’t _just_ Ignis and the usual guards in the room. He had to resist the urge to smile widely as he walked over to the (way too big) table.

“Good morning,” he said, which got his father to look up from the newspaper he was reading.

“Ah. Good morning, Noct,” Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII greeted with a smile as the younger man took his seat. “Had a good rest?”

“Eh. Same old, same old,” Noctis said with an absent shrug. He was tempted to tell his father about the boy with the nightmare, but he shook the matter off. After all, he was pretty sure he’d already cleared the issue up, so there was really no reason to bring it up. “So, if you’re here… does that mean you have some free time?”

His father didn’t get a lot of free time, with him being the King of Insomnia, and all that… let alone with having that his spell reached every inhabitant of the city. So, it was really no wonder that Noctis was, somewhat, hoping that his father finally had some time to himself (for once).

“Ah, just a little,” Regis chuckled, clearly catching his son’s building excitement. “But it should be enough time, correct?”

Noctis honestly couldn’t help himself; he smiled happily as his tail swished a little behind him. “Yeah, pretty sure.”

Regis smiled back at his son, as his own ear gave a small twitch, making him look over as Ignis came in with their breakfast. It really was so easy to get the boy in a good mood. The King wasn’t even sure what the boy had in mind to do today now that they could spend it together, though he was pretty sure he’d think of something before breakfast was over and done with.

 

Given just how early it was, there weren’t a lot of other students at the building. The only other student that Prompto could see and actually recognize, was up in his usual resting spot in the tree off to the side of the building. It wasn’t clear if he was napping, but he certainly looked to be. Shrugging the unspoken question off, Prompto made his way over, before looking up.

“Hey Zidane,” he called.

“…hm?” The other blonde blinked as he looked down from his perch. When he noticed Prompto, he grinned and spun around so he could hang upside-down from the branch to look at him, his ponytail coming undone a bit. “Morning, Prom! You’re in a good mood. What happened?”

“Finally had a good dream for once in Six-knows how long, that’s what,” Prompto smiled slightly.

“Really? Nice!” Zidane laughed, as he kicked off from the tree, somersaulting back to land on his feet. Once he had gotten to his feet, he looked up to the (slightly) taller blonde and asked: “So… care to share what it was about?”

“Chocobos, actually,” the taller blonde admitted. “They were acting like they knew me, it was amazing.”

That news had the shorter blonde laughing again. “Yeah, that’d do it for ya. Welp! Good to know your streak’s finally broken!” he said, patting the slightly taller boy’s shoulder. “Now keep it broken, eh?”

“We’ll see about that, Zidane,” Prompto snorted. “It may have just been a fluke, for all we know…”

“Hey, just look at it on the bright side; it happened once, so it can definitely happen again!”

Prompto shrugged, saying, “Yeah, we’ll just have to see…”

Zidane shrugged his shoulders, watching as more and more students started milling in. “…Ya could also like, go to the Dreamer Ball, if ya want.”

The sudden, seemingly random, quip had Prompto looking at his friend curiously. “Dreamer Ball?”

“Seriously?” Zidane asked dryly, hands on his hips. “You’ve been living here _how_ long now and ya never heard of that?”

“Dude, you’re my only friend, and I’m not exactly social with everyone,” Prompto pointed out. “Never had a reason to look into it.”

“True, true…” Zidane conceded. After a moment, he shook his head and decided to indulge his friend. “Anyway, the Dreamer Ball is this once a year event usually held somewhere mid-July. ‘s Kinda like a masquerade from what Kuj says, but I dunno the exact details.” Shrugging, he said: “Sounded like it was like… guaranteed ‘perfect’,” Zidane made sure to put that word in air quotes, “dreams or something…”

“Really? Sounds interesting…” Prompto murmured, genuinely curious about this event now. After all; this “perfect dream” sounded like something he could really use after all the nightmares he’d been going through.

Zidane chuckled. “Want me to ask Kuj about it tonight?”

“Sure, if you don’t mind,” the other blonde nodded.

“Alright! I’ll let you know ‘bout it tonight, then!”

“Sounds good, thanks, Zidane,” Prompto smiled.

“No prob!” Zidane said, right before the first bell rang. “Ah, sounds like it’s time to go in.”

“Yeah…” the taller blonde sighed. “All right, let’s get moving before we get our asses handed to us for being late.”

“Yeah…”

 

The day, thankfully, seemed to fly by, and before long, Prompto was walking back up the porch of his house. The lights were off inside, which wasn’t too surprising to him. After opening the door and stepping inside, he called out automatically, “I’m home…” to which he got no response, as usual.

He tried not to, really, he did, but he ended up sighing heavily as he dropped his backpack by the door, shimmied out of his shoes and then headed upstairs briefly to change out of his school uniform. Once he was wearing something that was a little more comfortable and easier to walk around in, he went back downstairs and headed into the kitchen to make his dinner.

As he worked, though, his phone beeped, signaling he had a text message.

“Hm?” Prompto pulled his phone out of his pajama pants pocket, even as it beeped a few more times, and when he looked, he realized that Zidane had texted him. Smiling slightly, he opened the text, knowing it was more than likely about the Dreamer Ball thing.

 **Zidane: So I checked with Kuj and he said this;**  
**Zidane: 1) It’s the first week of July**  
**ZIdane: 2) It’s a place where you get to meet the LC’s**  
**Zidane: 3) It’s invite only ):**  
**Zidane: 4) Kuj knows someone who can get invites~ XD**

Prompto chuckled softly, before typing back.

**Me: May as well see if you and I can both get invites, cuz no way in hell am I going alone, dude.  
Zidane: Waaaaay ahead of ya, dude~ XD**

That response had the blonde snorting in amusement.

 **Me: Ooooof course you are. Thanks, man. This gives me a bit of hope, to be honest.**  
**Zidane: No prob, man!**  
**Zidane: I’ll see ya tomorrow.**  
**Zidane: Have some good dreams, ya hear?**  
**Me: No promises, you know that.**  
**Zidane: It’s gonna work again! You’ll see!**  
**Me: I’ll let you know tomorrow, ya goof. See you then.**  
**Zidane: XP**  
**Zidane: See ya!**

Shaking his head slightly in amusement, the blonde finished making his dinner, and ate in lonely silence at the table, which was, sadly, a typical routine for him.

 

Noctis yawned as he walked into his bedroom, with a small spring in his step. The day had been awesome, to say the least; it wasn’t often that he got to spend a day with his father like that, and even though all they really do was spend the day lazing around and even getting some fishing done, it was more than enough for him. He was just happy to be able to spend some time with his father, no matter how little time he got.

Of course, he knew his father was always busy, and while it still hurt sometimes to not see him often, he didn’t blame him for it. He knew that his father wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, but he understood that his responsibilities to the city came first.

He would take what he could get. And besides, he’d be able to see him for longer during the ball in a few months’ time.

Once he had changed into his easy clothes that were perfect for dream-hopping, he climbed into bed and immediately cuddled under the blankets, getting himself comfortable before closing his eyes to ‘sleep’.

It took him only a few minutes for his Astral Projection to form at the foot of his bed as his consciousness drifted off. With a smile on his face, Noctis then moved to the window and without a second thought hopped through the window and went on to go looking for good dreams to explore.

 

‘ _Maaaan, there’s just nothing interesting now…_ ’ Noctis sighed as he walked along the rooftops, hands behind his head.

He’d spent a good few hours just roaming around, looking for a nice dream to explore, but, aside from the usual children’s dreams, he hadn’t come across anything really interesting. The adults just had the usual boring stuff that was enough to keep themselves entertained, but did nothing for the Crown Prince.

‘ _You’d think there’d be someone around with—_ ’

Suddenly, Noctis caught a resonance that had his ears twitching off to the side. It was a familiar one, even though he’d only heard it once before. But, just like the first time, it didn’t make any sense.

Noctis turned toward it and ran as fast as he could toward it, and when he reached the source, he didn’t waste any time and climbed down into the same room as before. Once inside, he turned to the blonde boy as he writhed and whined and groaned and cried in his sleep, the resonance of a nightmare clinging so tightly to him that it was almost suffocating.

‘ _How…?! How is this happening **again**!?_’

Before Noctis could reach his side, though, the blonde bolted up with a gasp, before he whimpered and curled up, crying softly. This made the dark-haired boy frown sadly as he moved over to “sit” on the bed in front of him.

This shouldn’t have happened; he should’ve had all the necessities now to have better dreams, yet somehow, he was still having nightmares. Noctis was now worrying about that he might’ve messed up somewhere, but no; he was sure he’d done everything he should’ve…

So… maybe… the problem was somewhere deeper.

As the boy moved back to try and get back to sleep, Noctis scooted over immediately after and, once he had shut his eyes, he pressed his forehead to that of the blonde. The crystal on his forehead began to glow once again as his irises expanded, and he sighed silently.

‘ _I’m sorry… I’ll make it right this time, I promise._ ’

 

Prompto bolted up from where he was in bed with a loud, sharp gasp, having been scared awake by yet another nightmare. The blonde let out a tiny whimper, before he began to cry into his knees in the fetal position, knowing the good dream had been just a damned fluke. It was too good to be true to think that the nightmares were gone forever…

For a few minutes, Prompto was considering just going down, getting some coffee and maybe just stay awake all night, but he knew he couldn’t do that. So, after drying his tears, he, reluctantly, moved to lay down again. Much as he hated to admit it, he _did_  need the rest if he wanted to make it through school the next day…

 

_When he opened his eyes, Prompto was quick to scramble to his feet when he saw the cold, metal walls surrounding him in some type of facility. There was machinery and mechanical things everywhere, and he had **no idea** where he was or what was going on._

_‘ **N-no! Not another one…!!** ’ the blonde thought in terror._

_The second he scrambled up to his feet, there was a far too familiar sound from behind him. Whirling around, he spotted an armored figure stumbling toward him, holding some sort of axe in its hand. Prompto gave a startled cry, before running off in his panic, with the armored figure stumbling after, gradually picking up speed, but he didn’t look back to check. He had no idea where he was going, or if there were other armored figures joining the one already following, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop and look._

_However, as he went around the corner, his foot hooked on something and he fell forward. “Ah!” Prompto yelped, before trying to scramble away._

_“Pireh!”_

_“Wha?!” the blonde started, looking back, where he immediately spotted a familiar foxlike creature, bounding over to him. The small creature briefly bumped its head to the blonde’s cheek, before it took off ahead of Prompto._

_“H-hey, wait up!” Prompto called after it, practically scrabbling to his feet before following after._

_The creature **did** wait for a moment, looking back to the boy briefly, before bounding off down the corridor again. As Prompto followed, though, he realized the foxlike creature was running for a doorway. The little creature ran ahead swiftly, and then, effortlessly, it leaped up for the handle, pulling it down with its weight, before dropping down and scampering out as the door swung outward._

_The blonde hurried after it, too scared to look behind himself, even as he ran outside after the fox-creature. And the moment they were out… the mechanical sounds were gone, replaced by the sound of nature as Prompto stumbled into a lush forest._

_“Wha…?” Prompto got out, very confused as he looked around, and then back. However, all that was behind him, was a large tree, with no sign of any doorway._

_“Pireh~”_

_When Prompto turned back, he spotted the fox-creature padding over to him, with a familiar item in its mouth._

_“How do you…?” the teen started to ask, bending down and taking his phone, thoroughly confused._

_The creature, of course, didn’t answer as it sat down in front of Prompto. And then… his phone went off with a loud “Pireh~”_

_Prompto jumped at the noise, before looking down at his phone screen._

_“ **Hi there~** ”_

_“Um… Hi,” he said. “Who **are** you?”_

_“Pireh~” **My name’s Noctis~ But you can call me Noct!**_

_The message was followed by a smiling Chocobo emoji._

_Prompto laughed a little at the fox-creature’s energy, before asking, “Are you the one who stopped my nightmare?”_

_“Pireh~” **Guilty as charged**_

_“Thank you for that, Noct,” the blonde told him gratefully. “I haven’t gotten a full night’s sleep because of them in years…”_

_The little creature cocked his head, clearly confused._

_“Pireh~” **How come?**_

_“I don’t know, to be honest…” Prompto admitted. “I only think the one where my parents hate me is because they’re rarely ever around anymore…”_

_Noctis frowned sadly at that news, as he padded over and bumped his head into Prom’s hand._

_“Thanks,” the teen murmured, taking the hint and rubbing Noctis behind his ears._

_This had Noct closing his eyes happily and leaning into the touch. After a bit, though, he looked up at Prompto._

_“Pireh~” **Soooo… ready to move on?**_

_“To where?” Prompto frowned, puzzled._

_“Pireh~” **You’ll see~**_

_Without giving Prompto the time to say anything, Noctis turned around and ran off._

_“Noct!” the blonde yelped, before hurrying after as Noctis ran up a small hill._

_As soon as Prompto joined him there, though, he stared in awe when he saw a myriad of floating, orange crystals scattered around._

_“Whoa…” Prompto breathe in awe. “What is this place…?”_

_Noctis smiled a bit, but didn’t ‘say’ anything, as he hopped along the path, flicking his tail along._

_“Pireh~”_

_When Prompto looked at his phone, the message was simply; “ **Does it matter? C’mon! Let’s play~** ”_

_The blonde shook his head a little, as Noctis almost reminded him of Zidane in a sense, but followed after with a warm smile, toward the first crystal he saw. And as he lightly touched it, it burst apart in a shower of golden sparkles. “Whoa…!”_

_“Pireh~” **Think you’re good enough to get ‘m all~?**_

_“Guess we’ll see, huh?” Prompto chuckled, before starting to repeat his prior action, touching the crystals lightly one by one._

_Like that, they ran back and forth through the forested area, with Prompto moving around to get to all the crystals. Which wasn’t always as easy and sometimes required him to climb up a ledge. However, with perseverance, he finally managed to get them all, which resulted in his phone going off with another “Pi~reh~” sound. And when he looked, there was only a cheering Chocobo emoji looking back at him._

_Prompto laughed lightly at Noctis’s response. “Thanks, Noct.”_

_Noct smiled at Prompto from where he was standing at the bottom of a hill, just before Prompto’s phone beeped again._

_“Pireh~” **What? You think we’re done already?**_

_“Wait, really? There’s more?” the teen asked, blinking._

_Rather than respond, Noctis began heading up the hill. And Prompto followed after, frowning curiously, wondering what was next. As they reached the top of the hill, though, he stared._

_The other side of the hill was quite a bit steeper and was much higher than the side they had come up on, but that wasn’t what had him staring. Instead, it was a wide river that, while not deep, ran fairly fast. And there were several dozen crystals floating over the water’s surface all the way down to the bottom._

_“What the…?” Prompto breathed, not sure what to do here, to which he got his answer soon enough as Noctis gave a happy chirp and promptly hopped in the river, sliding down all the way to the bottom._

_‘ **I guess it’s safe, since it’s a dream…** ’ the blonde shrugged, before following after._

_Sure enough, the river’s bed was smooth enough so that, when sliding down, it was almost like he was going down an actual slide rather than a river. And, every time he passed through a crystal, it burst apart in a rain of sparkles, which, combined with the water being splashed up, caused a flowing rainbow all the way to the end._

_“Wow…!!” Prompto gasped, stunned by the beauty – right before he reached the end and was effectively tossed into a slightly deeper end of a small pond._

_“Wah!” the teen yelped, trying to shake some of the water off from his arms. “Geez…”_

_That earned him a giggle-like sound from Noctis as he tottered over to the edge of the pond._

_“How’d you manage to not land in here?” Prompto asked, quirking a brow as he clambered out._

_“Pireh~” **I’m lighter, so I go further~**_

_“Still…” the blonde pouted, trying to wring out his clothes._

_Noctis merely smiled as he moved ahead of Prompto again._

_“Now where are you going this time?” Prompto asked, shaking off some of the water as he started after._

_The small creature didn’t respond immediately to the question, but Prompto continued following after, through the foliage._

_Which was when…_

_“Kweh~”_

_“Ah…!” the teen gasped, an excited grin appearing on his face, before he reached out._

_And as he moved aside the foliage, he realized they’d made it back to the same clearing with the Chocobos that he’d found himself at last night. One of the Chocobos looked up as he stepped over, and then cheerfully chirped out a greeting to the blonde._

_“Hey!” he called back, but despite his excitement, he sought out Noctis, hoping the fox-creature was still there._

_And he was; though he was sitting over in the bush again, just watching Prompto go silently._

_“Noct, don’t you wanna join in?” he called to him._

_The little creature watched him, before shaking his head._

_“Pireh~” **Nah. Maybe another time. You just have fun~**_

_“But…” Prompto started, biting his lip. He wanted to have more fun with what he hoped was his new friend._

_When Prompto didn’t finish, Noctis tilted his head curiously, blinking._

_“…I…want to have more fun with you…” the blonde murmured. “We’re…friends…right?”_

_Obviously, this surprised the small fox-creature, as he blinked several times more. However, after a moment, the little creature smiled._

_“Pireh~” **If you want to, sure~**_

_“I’d really like that,” Prompto smiled back, extending a hand to him._

_Noct chuckled, reaching up with one paw to ‘shake’ Prompto’s hand._

_“Thanks, Noct,” the teen said gratefully. “Now let’s go play with the Chocobos.”_

_The little creature nodded, and then bounded after Prompto as he headed off._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, now I'm aware that some people will say that Noctis is acting very out of character, but keep in mind; he's supposed to be giving people pleasant dreams. Can't do that when you're a grumpy-puss, right?


	3. Guardian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay... this chapter was a doozy.
> 
> Also, for the Chocobo, think the little guy from Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon in the White Mage job.

When morning came, yet again, and Prompto’s alarm began blaring again, the blonde found himself actually somewhat well-rested. The teen sat up in bed, smiling slightly to himself as he stretched his arms over his head with a yawn. ‘ _It’s all thanks to Noctis, too…_ ’ he thought, turning off his alarm and getting out of bed. ‘ _Hopefully I can meet him someday, if he’s even real…_ ’

Once he’d taken a shower and gotten dressed, he headed downstairs… and then he stopped at the bottom of the stairs. There was a package placed on the table, and he was pretty sure he hadn’t left anything there last night. He stared at it for a few moments, confused, before he went over and looked at it closer, trying to figure out what it was.

When he did, he finally noticed the tag hanging from it, with a pattern on it that reminded him of the fancy pictures in magazines he’d seen of Altissia. A tag with his name on it.

‘ _Mom’s home?!_ ’ Prompto thought in shock, realizing from the tag that his mom must have gotten him something while stationed in Altissia. He almost hesitated on opening it, but then decided to open it anyway.

Inside was a variety of snacks and small trinkets that were, clearly, things that were sold in Altissia as souvenirs to tourists. Those by themselves were, arguably, nice gifts to get… but then his attention went to the biggest gift in the box; a Chocobo plush.

“Ah…!” Prompto gasped quietly, before picking the Chocobo plush out of the box, smiling softly at the sight of the white cat-eared hood with red along the bottom of its little robe. It reminded him vaguely of Noctis, what with his large foxy ears. He truly adored the plush, and not just because it was so soft, and was quick to dart up to his room to place it on his bed before returning downstairs to make himself a quick breakfast and pack his lunch.

However, as he opened the fridge, he froze again as he saw his lunchbox sitting on the middle shelf, already filled.

The blonde smiled softly, grateful that his mom had done all this for him. As he munched on his morning toast, he wrote out a note to his mom, thanking her for the package (the plush especially) and for packing his lunch, and finished by saying he looked forward to seeing her later. Once he was done, he stuck the note somewhere she would obviously see it, before grabbing his lunch and heading out to school.

 

Once again it was quiet at school. And shockingly enough, even Zidane wasn’t there yet. His friend’s absence both confused and concerned him, but, soon enough, Prompto shrugged it off, deciding to wait at the shorter teen’s usual spot for him to arrive. It wasn’t totally unusual for the other blonde to be delayed, mostly because of his older brother, really.

As he stood there waiting, though, he suddenly heard an all too familiar voice… one that belonged to Seifer Almasy, the schoolyard bully, really.

“Hey there, lame-ass,” Seifer’s voice taunted as he approached, Rai and Fuu flanking him. The latter of the two was a bit surprising, though, since she didn’t even go to the same school (this was a boys’ only school, after all).

“…What do you want this time, Seifer…” Prompto stated rather than asked.

“Just looking to mess with you, as usual,” Seifer smirked. “After all, you have no one outside of here.”

“…” Prompto was quiet, not wanting to make his situation worse and argue back. He knew he had Zidane, both in school and out, and of course he had his parents, too (when they were home).

“I knew it, you’re still alone!” Seifer laughed. The younger blonde bit his lip, trying to keep himself from arguing back.

Which was exactly when something suddenly hit Seifer right in the back of the head. Seifer whipped around with a dangerous snarl, looking for where the item that hit him had come from.

And it didn’t take him long to find the source; which just so happened to be Zidane, standing there with a frown, arms crossed and tapping his foot. “ _Really_ , Almasy? Couldn’t resist the moment I’m a little bit late?”

“Ah, piss off, short-stuff,” Seifer growled, his usual insult for the shorter blonde. Not that it did anything to Zidane; he was well over that fact already. “I wasn’t doin’ a damn thing. We were just talking.”

“Talk not appreciated,” Zidane said, lifting one hand and waving it dismissively at the other teen. “Go on, git.”

Seifer growled lowly, but nodded to Rai and Fuu, and he left, his flunkies close behind. Once they were gone, Prompto’s posture relaxed, and he looked at Zidane gratefully.

“Thanks, Zidane…” he murmured. “I hate depending on you like that…”

Zidane sighed as he walked over, dropping his arms. “Dude… seriously, ya’d be a lot less likely a target if ya learn to speak up, yanno? How many times’d I tell ya that?”

“Sometimes that make it worse, Zidane, you know that…” Prompto pointed out, remembering when he’d tried to argue back at Seifer once. It hadn’t ended well.

The shorter blonde sighed at the reminder. “Dude… you’re such a wuss.”

Prompto merely shrugged, before feeling at least some relief that he wouldn’t have to explain bruises to his mom later.

After a moment of silence…

“…So?”

“Huh?”

“So streak still broken?”

“Not really…” Prompto admitted. “I started off having nightmares again…but then the last one shifted to a good dream.”

“…Eh. Good enough, for now…” Zidane said with a shrug.

“Yeah. Guess we’ll see here in a few months, too,” the taller blonde smiled slightly. He was honestly hopeful after meeting Noctis in his dream last night.

“Right,” Zidane said, nodding. “…Oh! Kuja’s got the tickets just about set up for us. Hope ya don’t mind being stuck with the lot of us~”

“Not at all,” Prompto smiled. “I’d rather not be alone there, anyway.”

“Good!” Zidane said, slapping Prompto on the shoulder. “C’mon, let’s head inside, shall we?”

“Sounds good,” the other blonde chuckled, getting to his feet and heading inside with Zidane.

 

Meanwhile, Noctis was just as busy. For once, he wasn’t even upset at Ignis waking him up so early and, in fact, as soon as he was done with breakfast and was told he didn’t have anything planned, he made a beeline for his family’s library. He was pretty sure he might’ve given Ignis a stroke because of it, but he wasn’t in the state of mind to care.

The library was filled from top to bottom with books on just about any subject, but the ones that Noctis was interested in at that time were the ones his family had written about dreams and, more specifically, nightmares. He knew that there had to be something about them and how to prevent them without constant intervention from his family.

He’d only been near the boy twice, now, but the nightmares seemed to be persistent. If he’d been going through those before, then, in normal situations, Noctis would have to be there every night in order to help him NOT have nightmares. Which, technically, he could do… but the moment he became King after his father passed the crown, he wouldn’t be able to do that anymore; he’d have to focus on _everyone_ in the Kingdom. And given how his father hadn’t been able to give Prompto good dreams, Noctis doubted he’d be able to accomplish it without some form of guidance.

“Ah- _hah!_ ” Noctis exclaimed as he finally found a book titled “Nightmares: The Origins and Solutions” that he was fairly sure would be of some use. ‘ _It better be useful… otherwise I’m calling bullshit on the ‘solutions’ part._ ’

He moved over to one of the giant beanbags in the corner of the room, and curled up there with the book, flipping through pages and trying to find anything that could, potentially, be of any use to him.

The first chapters were just boring filler, explaining the basics of nightmares, though the paragraph about causes was something he bothered to read. (“ _There have been numerous causes recorded for the source of nightmares. I.e. bad and/or traumatic memories from childhood, fear, life-threatening events, or any potential phobia. Most people who experience nightmares are aware of the source, but there have also been cases recorded where the nightmares come without warning or reason._ ”) And he flipped through to the “solutions” section.

There were several listed solutions to nightmares, with one of them simply being that they would merely “pass”, which Noctis was sure wasn’t going to happen in this case. The next was “creating new (pleasant) memories to block out the nightmare”, but again, that didn’t seem likely. The last one, though, immediately appealed to him.

“ _Subjects that suffer from nightmares for extended periods tend to have some form of deep-rooted trauma that they may or may not be aware of. In order to ward of nightmares in such cases, the subject either needs to be able to get over their trauma, or one of Lucis Caelum creates a Deterreo to protect the subject in question._ ”

‘ _…Deterreo?_ ’ Noctis frowned at that. He’d seen that word somewhere before…

Closing the book and tossing it to the side for a moment, Noctis leaped up and immediately began running around the library again, searching almost frantically for that _one_ book that he knew had to be there…

“Gotcha!” he crowed, as he pulled out a book titled “Deterreo; The Art of Warding”.

It was a study book on how to make a proper Deterreo, and that was _exactly_ what Noctis needed right then. So, armed with his new source of knowledge, he ran back to his beanbag, got comfortable, and started reading.

He had to get this all memorized before night fell, after all…

 

When school finally ended, Zidane made it a point to walk with Prompto to the curb, just in case.

“Thanks again, Zidane,” Prompto told his friend gratefully. “My mom got home I’m guessing late as hell last night, so hopefully she’ll still be there when I get back.”

“Really? Oh cool. Well, in that case, you better hurry up so you can catch up to her before she’s gone again,” Zidane said with a grin.

“Hopefully she’s not back to work too soon, yeah,” Prompto agreed, starting to head home. “See you tomorrow, Zidane!”

“See ya, man!” the blonde laughed, waving him goodbye.

Prompto smiled eagerly to himself as he walked home. and once he walked in the door, he called: “I’m home!”

While there was no immediate verbal response, he could immediately tell his mom was there; after all, he’d recognize the smell of his mom’s Green Soup Curry anywhere.

After toeing off his shoes, Prompto looked for his mom, a smile on his face. “Mom?” he called.

Upon the call, Ius Argentum looked up from where she was in the middle of adding some spices to the pan. When she saw him, she smiled and set the small container aside. “Hey sweetie,” she said in greeting, before she stepped away from the stove and held out her arms.

“Hey Mom,” the blonde smiled happily, going over and hugging her, which was returned immediately. “I missed you…”

“I know, I know, I’m _so_ sorry for being away so long,” she apologized, kissing his forehead as he stepped back a bit.

“It’s okay, I know it’s all work,” Prompto assured her. “Thank you for the package earlier, by the way. The Chocobo plush is my favorite.”

His mother laughed softly at the words. “Why am I not surprised that that’s what you’d gravitate to?” she said with a smile, ruffling a hand through his hair. “Anyway, how about you get in something more comfortable? Dinner should be ready in a bit.”

“Sounds good! Be right back!” the blonde grinned, before heading upstairs to change. After changing out of his school uniform and into some comfortable clothes, he headed back downstairs. “Have you heard from Dad at all?” he asked as he sat at the table.

“Ah, I’m afraid your father’s still stuck in Tenebrae,” Ius said as she tucked a few of her dark brown braids behind her ear, out of the way. “He’s really upset he couldn’t make it… but he did promise to come back soon, at least. He just doesn’t know when.”

“That’s okay. I was just curious,” Prompto replied. “I’m just happy having at least one of you home again.”

She smiled warmly at him, before she turned to the stove and turned it off, beginning to scoop the soup into a bowl. Once she had filled it up sufficiently, she walked over and set it down in front of Prompto. “Here you go, hun.”

“Thanks, Mom. You know my favorite too well,” the teen chuckled, before beginning to eat.

As she joined him after filling her own bowl, the pair fell into easy conversation, talking about everything and nothing, from school, to Ius’ work in Altissia, to Chocobos and even briefly discussing about what Tenebrae was like.

Eventually, Prompto asked: “Hey Mom, do you know what the Dreamer Ball is like at all?”

“The Dreamer Ball?” Ius repeated, humming as she put her spoon between her lips. “I’ve heard of it, sure… but I’ve never actually been to it before. Either because we couldn’t get invites, or because we were simply not here… Why do you ask?”

“Cuz Zidane invited me to go, and it sounds amazing, based off what what he’s told me,” the blonde said.

“Really? That’s nice. Where’d he get invitations from, though?”

“Apparently Kuja has connections. I didn’t ask any further, to be honest,” Prompto laughed a little.

This made Ius laugh as well. “Yes, sometimes it’s best not to know what type of connections one has. Well, I’m afraid I might not be around during that time, but if he does end up getting tickets, you can go and have fun.”

“I will,” Prompto smiled. “How long do you have until you need to head back, anyway?”

“I have a few days off, still,” she said kindly, smiling. “I’ll be here until Sunday, at least.”

“Ah, okay. I’m just glad to have you home, Mom,” the teen smiled.

Ius smiled in response, and lightly ruffled his hair once again. “I’m glad to be back, too.”

“Do you have anything planned for while you’re home?”

“Not at this time, but I’m sure we can think of something.”

“True,” Prompto agreed, before resuming eating.

Once they finished eating, Ius took the plates and headed for the sink. “I’ll take care of the dishes,” she assured. “You just relax after the school day, okay?”

“You sure, Mom? I don’t mind helping…” the blonde frowned.

“I’m fine, hun. Now go on. Git.”

“All right,” Prompto smiled, before heading up to his room. Once there, he took a picture of his new plush and sent it to Zidane.

 **Me: LOOK WHAT MOM GOT ME IN ALTISSIA!!**  
**Zidane: DUDE!! OoO**  
**Zidane: Awesome! :D**  
**Me: I KNOW!! I love it! There were a bunch of tasty snacks in the box, too. I’ll share some with you tomorrow~!**  
**Zidane: I’ll hold ya to that!**  
**Zidane: So was she still there?**  
**Me: Yeah, she’s home until Sunday. Dad’s still in Tenebrae, but I’m just happy to have at least one of them home for a bit.**  
**Zidane: Well ‘s better than no one. :)**  
**Zidane: I’ll see ya in the mornin, buddy!**  
**Me: True~ And sounds good, see you then!**

Zidane’s response to that was a waving Chocobo emoji, making the blonde laugh.

After setting his phone on his nightstand, Prompto decided to work on his homework, that way he didn’t fall too far behind.

 

As soon as he’d finished his dinner, Noctis excused himself to go back to his room. He claimed it was to get some gaming done, but in truth it was to get some last-minute studying done before he headed out again. He wouldn’t have the time to go visit tomorrow, as he was expected to help his father with the Wall as well as the Veil, so he had to make absolutely sure that his help wouldn’t be needed for the duration he couldn’t be there.

Once he was sure that he had it all memorized, he closed the book, tucked it under his pillow, and got himself comfortable to sleep. He was nervous, sure, but it still didn’t take him long to form his Astral Projection. It was a lot earlier than he usually went, but he wasn’t about to waste any time.

Unlike last time, he immediately leaped out of his window and rushed along the roofs as fast as possible. He had to make it before the nightmares began again…

 

Later on, after wishing his mom goodnight, Prompto got ready for bed, and as he curled up under his comforter, he hoped to see Noctis again. As he settled, though, his gaze fell on the plush Chocobo settled next to his pillow. Smiling softly, he reached over lazily and took hold of the plush, hugging it close to him, as he shut his eyes quietly.

 

When Noctis finally came to the house, he breathed softly in relief, as he couldn’t hear the tell-tale resonance of a nightmare just yet. His ear twitched briefly, though, as he realized that there was another presence in the house. For a moment, he worried that someone had snuck in, but he calmed himself down when he realized that, the faint resonance from the presence felt like it belonged in the house.

So, he just figured it was probably one of the boy’s parents.

After shaking that off, Noctis moved over and climbed into the room again. The kid was already in bed, on the verge of sleep, which calmed Noctis a little. He was still in time… he just had to find something that would help him.

And, shockingly enough, he barely had to look away from him before spotting the plush toy he was holding.

‘ _Wow… if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was making this easier for me!_ ’ Grinning, Noctis walked over, hopped onto the bed and cracked his knuckles briefly. ‘ _Okay… here we go~_ ’

He reached out, placed both hands on the side of the plush toy’s head, and began to breathe in and out, letting his own resonance siphon into the plush as he whispered the required incantation, unheard by anyone. The toy’s resonance grew greater and greater, and then, as Noctis pulled his hands back, it spread out, casting a gorgeous, tender golden glow (to Noctis’ eyes) over the blonde boy.

‘ _There we go… now, just to ensure everything will be fine with him…_ ’

 

_When awareness returned to Prompto again, however, it was to near pitch-blackness, with only the occasional red light cutting through the darkness. But that wasn’t even the worst of it; as he tried to move, he found his arms and legs to be cuffed to the metal table he was on._

_“Wha…?!” Prompto gasped, struggling in vain to free himself._

_Sadly, the metal cuffs wouldn’t give, and didn’t as much as squeak. Which was exactly when the lights above him came on, blinding him temporarily._

_“Ah…!” the teen yelped, squeezing his eyes shut against the brightness._

_The light was so bright, that even after the initial shock had passed, Prompto still couldn’t see anything through. All he could do was lay there and listen, as people seemed to have gathered around the table out of nowhere. He couldn’t understand what they were saying, or if they were even words, but the tone was cold and clinical._

_Prompto whimpered fearfully, not understanding what the hell was going on. All he wanted was for it to stop. Suddenly, there was a loud, mechanical buzzing sound, almost like a buzz saw, as was as the sound of what he believed to be some sort of drill. He still couldn’t see, but the sounds were coming closer…_

_‘ **N-NO…!!!** ’ Prompto thought, positively terrified now._

_“Pireh~”_

_“…!”_

_Suddenly, the sounds ground to a halt, the sounds of murmuring was cut off, replaced by brief grunts and cries of surprise, before silence descended upon the room, with the light above Prompto dimming slightly. And then, once he could see, a familiar little creature hopped up onto the table and scampered over to him to nuzzle his cheek._

_“Noct!” Prompto gasped, before trying to reach the little creature to pet him._

_“Pireh~” the fox-creature chirped, as it scampered to the edge of the table and made another sound. Then…_

_“Kweh~”_

_“Huh?” the blonde uttered, confused, before there was a beep from a button being pushed, and then the cuffs snapped open, letting him get up._

_“Thanks again, Noct,” Prompto smiled, scratching Noctis’s ears gently before looking for where the Chocobo chirp had come from._

_And he was more than a little surprised at what he saw. Because he was pretty sure that he was looking at his own Chocobo plushie, white kitty robe and all, only it was much bigger (coming up to Prompto’s waist, at least)… and he was real._

_“Kweh!” the plump little bird chirped as it hopped, flapping its wings excitedly._

_“What the…?” Prompto managed to get out, thoroughly confused._

_Noctis gave a chirping laugh as he hopped over to land on the bird’s head, who looked up with what was clearly a smile. “Pireh~” he chirped -- in time with something going off in Prompto’s pocket._

_Prompto got his phone out quickly, and read the text._

**_You make yourself very difficult to find, you know that?_ **

_“Not like I do it on purpose, y’know…” the blonde pointed out with a pout._

_“Pireh~” **I’m joking. Anyway! Shall we go?**_

_“Yeah, let’s hurry out of here,” Prompto agreed, getting off the table to follow Noctis and the Chocobo, the latter of which took charge of the small group, with Noctis still perched neatly on its head._

_Thankfully, they managed to get through the halls with not a single encounter before they moved through a doorway, stepping back out into the forest, just like before._

_Once in the forest again, Prompto felt immense relief wash over him, before smiling at the calmness of the forest._

_“Kweh!”_

_When Prompto looked over, the small Chocobo had waddled up to him and was now patting his hip (the highest point it could reach) with its wing._

_“I know you’re the plush my mom got me in Altissia, but how are you alive, even here?” Prompto asked, smiling at the Chocobo._

_“Pireh~” Noctis chirped, making his phone go off again. **Yeah, that was my doing.**_

_“Kweh!” the Chocobo chirped, as if to confirm._

_“Really? How come?” Prompto questioned, curious._

_Noct’s ears lowered a little bit, as if what he was about to say wasn’t happy news._

_“Pireh~” **Well… much as I would like to… I really can’t be here every time…**_

_“Oh…” Prompto mumbled sadly. Even though he had a feeling as to why, and understood that reason if he was right, it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. “I think I get it… It’s cuz of other people, huh?”_

_“Pireh~” **Yeah. Don’t get me wrong; I wanna have fun with you, but I just can’t.**_

_“No, I understand… I’m not the only one…” Prompto nodded slightly._

_“Pireh~” **So! Since I can’t be here all the time, I figured I might as well ensure there’s someone who CAN be.**_

_At that, the small Chocobo gave a chipper “Kweh~” and bounced on its talons._

_Prompto blinked, before smiling. “That means a lot to me, Noct… Thank you.”_

_Smiling, Noctis tapped the Chocobo on the head lightly with his paw while looking down at it._

_“Pireh~” **So as long as you make sure Boco’s with you, he’ll keep you safe when I’m not here~**_

_“Kweh~”_

_“Boco, huh?” Prompto chuckled. “Well, I’m happy to have him.”_

_Boco gave a happy smile, as Noctis hopped down to the ground._

_“Pireh~” **Okay! Let’s get going!**_

_“Where to this time, huh?” Prompto asked, curious about what the little guy had planned this time._

_“Pireh~” **Well… where do you WANT to go? This is your dream after all~**_

_“Hey, you’ve led the past couple of nights, and this is all still new to me after so long,” the blonde pointed out._

_“Pireh~” **Yeah, but I’m not gonna be here next time, probably… so… where do you want to go?**_

_“How about…Altissia? My mom works there, and I’ve only ever seen pictures in magazines and from stuff she’s brought home,” Prompto suggested._

_“Pireh~” **Ooh~ I know Altissia! Never been, but I’ve seen it plenty before!**_

_“How the heck does that work?” Prompto asked with a laugh._

_Rather than answer, though, the small creature scurried on ahead, making Boco chirp in alarm, before hurrying to follow. However, the Chocobo did stop briefly to chirp at Prompto and call him over._

_“I’m coming!” Prompto called after, before catching up quickly._

_Noctis waited for them on top of the hill that Prompto remembered from last time; the one they’d slid down before. And, once they were there, Noctis hopped in again and went ahead._

_“Ready, Boco?” Prompto asked, smiling at his living plush._

_“Kweh!” the Chocobo chirped, bouncing a little bit, before he moved over to the edge. And then, he hopped in with a happy cry, sliding down after Noctis. Prompto was quick to copy and follow after, sliding down after the pair._

_Boco hit the water first, with a startled squawk, a little further toward the edge, before Prompto splashed down, too._

_“Gah!” the teen yelped, before scrambling out of the water. “Forgot about that…” he muttered as he wrung out his clothes._

_Boco shook himself dry once he was out, while Noctis watched them with a cheeky little smirk._

_“Be glad I wouldn’t dunk you, since you’re my friend,” Prompto snorted with a laugh._

_Noctis merely chirped cheekily, as he turned and began to move ahead again._

_“Kweh~” Boco ‘said’, following close behind._

_“Right behind you,” Prompto chuckled, walking after them._

_Suddenly, Noctis stopped dead in his tracks._

_“…? Kweh??”_

_“What’s wrong?” Prompto frowned._

_“……”_

_Noctis didn’t make a sound… which was how Prompto could hear a sound that was FAR too familiar; the rickety sound of metal joints moving._

_“But, how are those things even here?!” Prompto hissed, panicking._

_“Pireh~” **I’m not sure…**_

_Boco blinked twice, as the same armored figure staggered forward, out from the undergrowth… before he squawked angrily and dashed forward._

_“Ah…!” Prompto gasped, his expression worried as he watched helplessly._

_The figure swung out with its axe for Boco, but the little Chocobo dodged to the side and -- without hesitation -- snapped out his talons and kicked it to the chest, knocking it backwards with a heavy thud. “KWEH!”_

_“Holy…!” the teen choked out, shocked, shortly before there was another “Pireh~” from his phone._

**_And THAT is why he’s here~_ **

_Dumbfounded, Prompto looked at Noctis. “That’s amazing!”_

_Meanwhile, Boco was effectively bouncing on the metal figure, slamming his talons all over it and then stomping on it. Finally, he stopped, and he tilted his head in a few different directions to regard it, before he gave a huffy chirp and hopped off. Then, as he walked back, he made sure to kick back some dirt to the now motionless armored figure, a definite spring in his step._

_“Good job, Boco!” Prompto praised, petting his little friend’s head gratefully._

_“Kweh~”_

_Noct smiled at that, before he chirped, beginning to walk off again -- making sure to bounce off of the figure as he went._

_Noticing, Prompto chuckled. “Not a fan either, huh?”_

_“Pireh~” **Nope~**_

_“Not that I blame you.”_

_Noctis scurried along, moving along a fallen log… and then he stopped again. Before Prompto could ask, though, Boco squawked, clearly angry._

_“Another one?” the blonde frowned darkly._

_“Kweh!” the Chocobo cried out, running ahead, just as another figure staggered out into view._

_“What **are** these things, anyway?!” Prompto wondered, looking to Noctis._

_“Pireh~” **I don’t know…**_

_Boco, meanwhile, hopped to the side to avoid the axe, before he kicked it with another squawk, knocking it back -- however, as Boco scurried after, Prompto suddenly took notice of a red laser._

_“Huh?!” the teen gasped, noticing the red dot, and he realized it was a sniper. “Oh no!”_

_Noctis, clearly, noticed as well, and gave a sharp chirp, as the crystal on his forehead suddenly glowed. Then, as he snapped his head up, there was a flash of red before something dropped into Prompto’s hands._

_“Wha?” Prompto uttered, before looking at the item, and realizing it was a gun. Not like the arcade ones he and Zidane had used, but a **real** gun. He took on some kind of natural instinct when he realized this, and then sought out the sniper quickly, before shooting it without thinking twice about it._

_And the single shot was perfect shot, causing the figure to stagger back, before crashing to the ground, as Boco was finishing off smashing the other one. The little Chocobo looked toward the sniper curiously, before it chirped and came back over._

_“That one was about to hurt ya, Boco,” Prompto told his living plush worriedly._

_“Kweh~” Boco chirped with a bright smile, which most likely translated into “thank you~”._

_“Anytime, buddy,” the blonde chuckled, patting Boco’s head gently._

_“Kweh~”_

_Noctis smiled, as he hopped off of the log. “Pireh~” **Let’s go~**_

_“Sounds good,” Prompto nodded, following after._

_Thankfully, the rest of the way was uneventful, and they, eventually, made it to what looked like a huge lake._

_“Whoa…” the teen breathed out in awe._

_“Pireh~” **Okay! Almost there~**_

_“Huh?” Prompto uttered._

_Rather than responding to that, Noctis ran toward the lake and, without a second thought, leaped forward, as a glowing circle appeared upon the water. And then the little creature was gone._

_“Kweh?!”_

_“Wah! Noct!” the blonde yelped, startled._

_Boco hurried over to the edge and went up to the tips of his talons, trying to see what had happened, cooing a bit, before he settled down and turned to Prompto, chirping a bit as he hopped on his talons._

_“Do you know what happened, Boco?” Prompto asked, joining him._

_The Chocobo moved to behind him and began to push him toward the edge, or more specifically, in the direction of the glowing circle that was still hovering on the water. “Kweh~” Boco said, waving his wings as though throwing something into the ring._

_“Oh! Okay, I gotcha,” the teen nodded, before leaping into the circle, with Boco close behind._

_Next thing Prompto knew was landing on his feet on clear marble roads, stumbling a bit from the sudden shift in surrounding area._

_“Ack! Dammit,” Prompto grumbled as he regained his balance, before looking around._

_And as soon as he did, his jaw dropped._

_“Pireh~” **Welcome to Altissia~**_

_They were standing on a higher plaza of a gorgeous city, situated smack-dab in the middle of a gorgeous lake, with beautiful white buildings with their red-shingled roofs. It was every bit as gorgeous as the pictures his mom had shown him._

_“Wow…” Prompto breathed in awe, amazed as he looked around._

_“Kweeeeeh…” Boco cooed, staring in awe at the scenery, and Noctis giggled._

_“Pireh~” **C’mon! Let’s go explore~**_

_“Coming!” the teen grinned brightly._

_“Kweh~” Boco echoed, scampering after as they headed up a set of stairs._

_Once at the top, there was man waiting there, standing on some sort of boat that Prompto had never seen before, set in a man-made channel that moved over the streets below. “Good day,” the man said with a smile. “Care for a cruise?”_

_“Kweh?”_

_Noctis smiled as he gave another chirp._

_“Pireh~” **The main area is on the other side~ Let’s go~**_

_“Sounds good! Let’s go,” Prompto nodded, as Boco chirped and bounced on his talons, before they all filed into the boat._

_Once everyone was seated, the man began to use a long rod to push the boat down the channel. And all the while, Boco was looking out of the boat, cooing in awe as he looked around._

_“It’s so beautiful…” the blonde murmured as they went. “So much prettier than any picture…”_

_Noctis smiled as he sat there, tail swishing a bit._

_“Pireh~” **It’s probably better in person, too, but hey! Still nice, right?**_

_“Absolutely!” Prompto agreed._

_“Kweh~”_

_Once at the end of the ‘trip’ Noctis got out first, with Boco scurrying after and Prompto close behind, as they headed down the long steps and down onto a beautiful plateau, with a giant fountain in the very center._

_“Whoa…” the teen breathed, awed._

_“Kweeeeh!” Boco cheered, as he ran in a circle around the fountain happily, hopping as he returned to Prompto’s side._

_“Having fun, Boco?” Prompto smiled happily._

_“Kweh~”_

_“Good,” the blonde chuckled._

_Noctis chirped as he hopped onto the edge of the fountain, moving over to take a sip from the water._

_Prompto smiled at the sight, before sitting beside him on the edge of the fountain. “…I’ll be honest, I wish this could never end…” he admitted._

_Noctis blinked as he looked over, before walking over._

_“I haven’t had so much fun like this in a long time, it feels like. I only have a few friends in reality, and my parents are gone so much I might as well be alone at home all the time…” the teen confessed._

_“…kweh,” Boco called out as he walked over, rubbing his cheek against the blonde’s knee._

_Prompto smiled slightly, even as he rubbed Boco’s head gently. “That’s why I hate having the nightmares so much. They make my life miserable, and I’ve had some sleepless nights because of them… But then you came along, Noct, and made things better…” He swallowed thickly, before looking at the fox-creature pleadingly. “Do you think you’ll be back soon?”_

_Noctis didn’t reply immediately, but, in the end, he smiled._

_“Pireh~” **I can’t promise anything… but I’ll definitely be back when I can. And until I do, Boco will keep you safe.**_

_“True,” the blonde nodded._

_“Pireh~” **And I’m pretty sure you can watch his back in turn~**_

_“I will, no problem there,” Prompto smiled. “I’ll miss you anyway, though…”_

_The little critter chirped -- right before he suddenly ran up Prompto’s side, to his shoulders and coiled around his shoulders._

_Startled, Prompto jumped slightly, before smiling softly and petting Noctis behind his ears. “I hope we can meet in reality someday, too.”_

_At that, Noctis seemed to deflate a bit, before he perked up again. “Pireh~” **No promises. But that would be nice~**_

_“It really would be,” Prompto murmured, relaxing as he continued to scratch Noctis’s ears._

_“Kweh~” Boco chirped, as he hopped up onto the edge and then, happily, settled next to Prompto. Which, in turn, had Noctis giggling a bit._

_Taking the hint, the teen began to pet Boco with his free hand, smiling contently._


	4. Exuberance

_The halls were dark, cold, and covered in cobwebs and dust from ages of disuse, and the flames of the torch made flickering shadows dance along the walls at every turn. And yet, both explorer and his trusty companion moved systematically through them, taking careful note of which direction they were going so as to not get lost._

_Then, they reached an intersection._

_“…Kweh?” Boco asked after looking down both halls, looking up to Prompto._

_“Since we went right last time…let’s go left this time,” Prompto said._

_“Kweh~” Boco said in agreement, and they began making their way down the left hallway._

_The hallway was fairly long, and it took them quite a bit before they reached what looked like a larger chamber. What was annoying, though, was the fact that there was a Goblin on the far side of the room._

_“Ah, geez…” the blonde muttered, frowning._

_“Kweh!” Boco chirped as he bounced on his talons. **I’ve got him!**_

_“Sounds good, buddy,” Prompto chuckled._

_Boco chirped once more and then, after a moment, he hurried toward the Goblin. Of course, as soon as it saw Boco, it screeched and lunged for the Chocobo. Boco, though, easily hopped up and landed right on top of it, smashing it to the ground with an undignified squeal._

_After stomping on the creature a bit more, Boco hopped around to face Prompto._

_“Kweh~” **All clear~**_

_“Thanks, Boco,” the teen smiled as he joined him again._

_Boco merely smiled as they continued on their way._

_“Huh… Looks like it’s locked…” Prompto murmured as he examined the door._

_“Kweh?” **Maybe there’s a key?**_

_“I’d like to think so, but where…?”_

_The pair of them hummed thoughtfully, before backtracking slightly to the last intersection. Once there, Boco pointed down the other hall with a questioning chirp. **Down there, maybe?**_

_“Let’s try it,” the blonde shrugged._

_As they moved down the hallway, suddenly, there was a squeal from above them. And as they turned to look, both yowled as they had to duck under the Steeling that had been going for their head. “Kweh!!”_

_“Wah!!” Prompto yelped in alarm._

_The Steeling squealed again, and then turned back around toward them._

_“Stupid…!” the teen growled, before firing at it with his gun, downing it with that single shot._

_“Kweh~” **Nice shot~**_

_“Thanks,” Prompto smiled, before they continued on._

_Soon enough to reached another room. However, at the end of it, they saw what appeared to be some sort of glowing crystal that was hovering over a pedestal._

_“What is that…?” Prompto wondered._

_“Kweh…” **I dunno…**_

_“I guess we should check and see what it is…” the blonde murmured._

_Boco chirped and followed after Prompto as they walked into the room, toward the back, while keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. When they reached the pedestal, Prompto slowly ascended the steps, with Boco close behind him, hoping it was nothing bad._

_Thankfully, when he took hold of it, there wasn’t anything ‘bad’ that happened. However, as they were about to go back, they nearly jumped when they realized that, while they hadn’t been looking, a pair of Bombs had appeared out of nowhere._

_“Kweh!!”_

_“Ah! Shit!” the teen cursed, before pulling out his gun._

_Boco looked around at the Bombs, before he chirped again. “Kweh!” **I’ll take the left one!**_

_“Got it!” Prompto nodded, before firing at the one on the right, as Boco ran for the one on the left, kicking it as soon as he got into range, jumping away from the Bomb as it lunged for him._

_As Boco continued to attack the left one, Prompto fired several more shots in quick succession at the right one. They did have to jump back every so often to avoid the fire the Bombs exhaled at them, but it was definitely not a hard battle for them. And finally, both of the daemons dropped, flames dispersing and leaving behind mere clumps of black._

_“Kweh~” Boco cheered._

_“Awesome!” the blonde grinned._

_With the road cleared, the pair went back the way they had come, and when they came to the intersection again, Boco paused. “…Kweh!” he said, pointing to the crystal Prompto was still holding. **Maybe that’s the key!**_

_“Oh! Good point, Boco!” Prompto smiled. “Let’s go try it!”_

_After getting back to the locked door, they took a few moments to examine it again. When they did, they noticed the gap in the middle that they hadn’t noticed initially. One that seemed to be big enough for the crystal they’d picked up earlier._

_“Looks like a good fit to me,” the teen commented, before sticking the crystal into the gap._

_“Kweh~” **Looks like it~**_

_“Perfect,” Prompto grinned as crystal fit in just right._

_As it clicked into place, the door groaned, and then opened inward, opening the way for them to continue on._

_“Kweh!” Boco cheered, bouncing on his talons._

_“Nice!” the blonde laughed, before moving on with Boco._

_As they continued on along the hall beyond the door, finally, they reached a large room; filled to the brim with treasure._

_“SWEET!! We found it!!” Prompto crowed excitedly._

_“Kweh!!”_

_The two of them immediately went for the treasure and began to fill their bags with treasure, laughing/chirping in their excitement over finding the treasure. However, just as Prompto reached for an item on a shelf, he jumped as it let out a piercing sound… one that he actually recognized._

 

“Gah!!” Prompto yelped, jolting upright in bed, before glaring irritably at his phone. “Stupid alarm…” he grumbled, before turning it off and stretching. ‘ _That…actually was a really good dream, from start to finish,_ ’ he thought to himself, before looking to the sky through his window. ‘ _Thank you, Noct._ ’

As he moved to get out of bed, though, there was a small thud, and when he looked down, he realized his plush had just tumbled to the ground.

“Ah…!” Prompto gasped quietly, before picking up Boco and setting him on his bed again. “There ya go, buddy. Much better.”

Of course, the plush couldn’t respond, but Prompto was pretty sure the thought was appreciated.

Prompto was quick to get dressed before making his way downstairs, excited to spend the day with his mom. When he got there, Ius was already working on breakfast, and by the looks of things, she already had everything they needed for the day set up.

“Good Morning, Mom,” the blonde smiled brightly as he sat at the table.

“Good morning, hun,” Ius said, smiling as she brought over their breakfast. “You excited for today?”

“Definitely,” Prompto grinned, accepting the offered plate. “Thanks.”

Nodding, Ius took her own seat as they started on breakfast. Prompto was trying not to rush so that they could get going as soon as possible, choosing instead to enjoy his meal, because he knew his mother would be forced to leave before long, again.

Once they finished, Ius took the dishes away and just left them in the sink after rinsing them for the moment. “Let’s do that later. C’mon, let’s go.”

“Sounds good!” the teen nodded with a smile, before heading out with his mom.

As they got into his family’s car (which wasn’t often used and was more often in the garage), Ius seemed to remember something. “Oh right, Prompto, can you do me one favor?”

“What’s that?” Prompto asked, tilting his head curiously.

Ius reached into her pocket, and pulled out a bandana. “Can you put this over your eyes? I’d rather this be a surprise as long as possible.”

“Aww…” the blonde pouted, before laughing lightly as he tied the bandana over his eyes.

Ius giggled a bit, briefly ensuring the bandana was properly in place, before she started the car and drove away toward… wherever they were going.

 

Noctis took a few deep breaths in preparation, before he bit his lip and reached up, pushing his ears down and back, pressing them against the back of his head, where he proceeded to secure them together (carefully). “Gaaah! So uncomfortable…” he grumbled, and his ears gave an instinctive twitch against the band.

However, he ignored it as he grabbed the black hood that was customary for his family to wear when they went outside of the Citadel, for their protection.

While those of Lucis Caelum could adjust the resonance of people who were sleeping to grant them pleasant dreams, very few knew that people, in turn, had a very powerful effect on the Royal Family. Especially in large numbers, as the resonance of people never went away once they woke up. Sure, it would diminish for the majority of their time away, but it didn’t go away, and to make matters worse, despite being weaker, the sheer number of people being in one place often made them more powerful than one sleeping person’s resonance. And while it certainly wasn’t deadly, or even harmful, it was extremely distracting and sometimes even disruptive.

So, during times that they were needed to leave, members of Lucis Caelum were required to wear a special hood that was meant to cancel out the “noise” of the resonance, to allow them to focus on the things they needed to do.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

“Enter,” he called out, as he had a good idea who it would be.

And he wasn’t disappointed as the door opened and the man on the other side walked in, carrying the travel cloak that was to go with his hood.

“Good morning, Your Highness~” the man said jovially in greeting that had Noctis laughing softly.

“Kuja, how many times do I have to tell you to _stop_ calling me that?” he asked as the silver-haired man came over and, easily, helped him get the cloak on properly (there were a lot of buttons, chains, belts, and other accessories that made it difficult to get on alone. “Just call me Noct, already.”

“Oh I’d love to… but who knows what trouble I’d get into if someone were to overhear me being so ‘chummy’ with the Crown Prince, hm?” Kuja asked with a chuckle as he tugged on the cloak’s shoulder to get the chains into their proper place.

“I highly doubt anyone would care that much. Least of all here,” Noct fired back.

Kuja hummed as he dropped down and smoothed out the cloak. “I suppose you have a point~” Noctis didn’t bother to say anything about it as Kuja stood up again and patted the prince’s shoulder. “There we go~ All done.”

“Right. Thanks again, Kuja.”

“Anytime~”

As they headed for the door to leave the prince’s room, he actually remembered something that Kuja had inquired about previously. “Ah, right… Father should have those invites ready for you tonight. He just needs the names of everyone coming to put on them.”

“Ah, perfect~ I’ll be sure to pass it on to him before I head out in an hour. Thanks again~”

“No worries. You said your brother’s friend was having bad dreams?”

“That’s what I understood of it, yes…” Kuja admitted. “Or at the very least, he doesn’t often sleep well, though he appears to have gotten better recently.”

“That’s good,” Noctis murmured, nodding, before they both stopped at a split in the hallway. “Well, I’ll see you later. Give my regards to your siblings.”

“I’m sure they’ll appreciate it~ Have a good day, Noct,”

“No promises there…” Noctis laughed, before they both went their own way. ‘ _Ugh… not looking forward to this thing **at all** …_’

 

“Are we there yet, Mom?” Prompto asked as they drove.

“Not yet, hun.”

“How much longer…?” he pressed, hoping to find out.

“Not much longer,” was all Ius said with a chuckle.

“Okay…” the teen pouted.

After what felt like ages, Prompto felt the car going into a turn, and then slowing down gradually. And then, Ius turned her car again, into a parking spot, probably, as the car stopped at that point. And then Ius shut off the engine. “Okay… leave it on, Prompto.”

“Okay…?” Prompto frowned slightly as he waited for his mom to get out of the car.

His mom merely giggled as she walked over and helped her son out of the car. “Alright, let’s go, sweetie.”

“Can I take it off soon, Mom?” he asked.

“Soon, hun.”

“Aww!” the blonde whined.

Ius laughed softly as she led her son along the path. Prompto wasn’t sure where they were; all he knew was that there was a very distinct smell around him… and there was this odd, consistent thudding sound that… he could’ve /sworn/ he heard somewhere before.

‘ _Wait a sec…_ ’ he thought as Ius led him along, wracking his brains to try and figure out what the sounds and smell were from.

Just then, Ius stopped him from walking and, giggling, she stepped up behind him. However, before Prompto could ask, he became aware of something being close to his face suddenly, breathing. For a moment, Prompto was almost afraid that he was standing in front of someone… but then…

“Kweh?”

Prompto gasped sharply, before quickly taking off the bandana, and grinning in delight when he saw the Chocobo standing before him. “Oh my Six!!” he nearly squealed in excitement.

“Surprise, sweetie~” Ius laughed, as the bird tilted its head at Prompto, blinking its eyes at him.

“Awesome surprise, Mom!” the teen grinned, reaching out to pet the Chocobo. “Hi there, buddy,” he murmured as he did.

“Kweeeeh~” the Chocobo cooed, leaning into the touch happily.

“This is so cool…!” Prompto breathed excitedly, looking back at Ius happily.

“Glad to know you like,” she said with a smile. “So… you feel up for going for a ride?”

“Really?! I’d love to!” the blonde grinned.

“Well, let’s go get you set up, then,” Ius said with a laugh, leading the blonde further along the paths.

“Sounds good!” Prompto smiled brightly, following after.

It took them only a few minutes to find one of the employees of the park, and even less for them to get access to the stables where some of the Chocobos meant for guests to ride were kept. Needless to say, by the time Prompto was set to mount the Chocobo, he was almost bouncing on his feet.

“This is so awesome!!” the teen very nearly squealed as he mounted his Chocobo.

Ius giggled as she followed Prompto and the employee as the Chocobo was led off to an area where Prompto could practice riding. “Just be careful, okay, sweetie?”

“No worries, Mom, I’ll be careful,” Prompto promised.

Ius smiled, and then sat back as she watched Prompto learn the basics of how to ride a Chocobo.

As Prompto went through the short lessons, he was reminded of the first dream he’d encountered Noctis in. Granted, they hadn’t actually met properly then, but still. Thanks to the short experiences of not just that dream, but the following one as well, he was able to catch on quickly.

“Nice! You’re a natural!” the trainer said with a smile. “You feel up for a go around the track?”

“Sure!” the blonde nodded eagerly.

“Right. This way, then,” the man said, guiding Prompto and the Chocobo out back.

As Prompto waited as patiently as he could in the saddle, he smiled brightly to himself. This was gonna be great.

Once out on the track, the Chocobo briefly shook its head, chirping briefly as it went toward the track without further prodding. It was probably already used to going along the track often with other riders, so it clearly understood without being told what was being expected of it.

“You ready to run, buddy?” the teen asked as he petted the Chocobo’s neck.

“Kweh!” the bird said in response.

“Awesome,” Prompto chuckled, waiting for the signal to start running.

“Alright, get ready!” the trainer suddenly called out. And, instantly, the bird chirped and got in a slightly better position.

The blonde grinned as he lowered himself to the Chocobo’s neck for better speed.

“Aaaand _GO!!_ ”

The moment the man shouted and Prompto kicked out his legs, the Chocobo gave a cheerful cry as it immediately took off down the track.

“Woohoo!!” Prompto crowed as they raced along, rushing down the paths with almost childlike ease, jumping over rocks, logs, and drifting along the tight corners.

And all the while, Ius was sitting on the sidelines, with her phone in hands, recording the whole thing.

‘ _This is so awesome!_ ’ Prompto thought, exhilarated. The only thing that would make it better is if Zidane or Noctis (or even both) were there with him. But that was just wishful thinking, really…

Suddenly, there was a loud “Kweh!” just before another Chocobo suddenly shot past him along the track.

“Huh?!” the teen yelped, startled.

“Oh for--VAAN!! Get out of there!” one of the trainers shouted, but the other Chocobo’s rider merely laughed and, instead, only spurred his own bird on, well ahead of Prompto along the track. Which immediately set of a competitive streak in Prompto that the blonde hadn’t even known he had.

“Wanna see if we can beat him, buddy?” Prompto asked his Chocobo.

“Kweh~”

“Then let’s go!” the blonde grinned, spurring the bird into running faster with a loud squawk, taking off after the other Chocobo.

The two birds raced along the rocky track, with both of them leaping across the rocks and taking short hover-jumps along other chunks. And all the while, both riders laughing and just having the time of their life as they raced.

 

“YES!!” Prompto cheered as he shot past the other rider, barely beating him.

“Man!” the other rider groaned, though he was still laughing. “Not bad, there.”

“Thanks! Not bad for my first time, if I do say so myself!” the blonde snickered.

“I’ll say,” the other boy said as he made the Chocobo walk over. Now that they weren’t running around, Prompto had some time to look the boy -- or young man, rather -- over. He was a little older than Prompto, though he wasn’t sure by how much, with his skin having a definite tan to it (he probably spent a lot of time outside), making his blonde hair seem that much lighter. “I’m Vaan,” he said, holding out a hand.

“Prompto,” Prompto smiled, accepting the offered hand and shaking it. “Nice to meet you.”

“Back at ya,” Vaan said with a smile of his own, as the trainer came over.

“What did you think you were doing?! You _know_ you’re not supposed to go around racing customers while they’re on the track!”

“Hey, c’mon! No one got hurt, did they?”

“I had fun, to be honest,” Prompto admitted.

“See? It worked out fine!” Vaan pointed out, and the trainer grumbled something in response, clearly not happy about it, but there wasn’t much he could do about it now.

Prompto smiled apologetically. “Sorry if that caused trouble…”

The trainer looked ready to say something, but Vaan interrupted by saying: “Hey, wanna go for a run around the area?”

“Vaan!”

“That’d be great!” Prompto nodded eagerly.

“Awesome! Let’s go!” Vaan laughed, as he turned his Chocobo and went ahead, completely ignoring both the trainer’s call and Ius’ laughter off in the distance.

“Right behind ya!” Prompto laughed as well, as he followed after.

 

After what felt like ages, during which Vaan actually got them some food to munch on, the two blondes were sitting by one of the lakes set up in the center of the tracks, their Chocobos sipping from the water.

“This has been so much fun,” Prompto commented as he watched the birds.

“Hmhmm…” Vaan hummed from where he was leaning against a rock. “So… first time here in general?”

“Yeah. My mom and I are having a day together before she has to go back to work in Altissia,” Prompto explained.

Vaan hummed in response. “Sure it’s okay for you to be going your own way, then?”

“I should head back soon, yeah…” Prompto admitted.

“Alright,” Vaan said as he stood up again. “Let’s get you back, then.”

“Thanks, Vaan,” Prompto smiled as he climbed back into his Chocobo’s saddle.

Once they were in the saddle again, the two of them began heading back the way they’d come. It took only a few minutes to get back to the starting area, where Ius was waiting for them. When she spotted them, she smiled.

“Hey, hun. Had fun?”

“Sure did!” Prompto grinned as he stopped the Chocobo and dismounted. “Sorry I practically took off…”

“It’s fine, hun, don’t worry. I’m just glad you had fun,” Ius assured. “However, we do need to start heading home… it’s getting late.”

“Yeah, true…” the blonde sighed. Looking at Vaan, he said, “Thanks again for the extra fun, Vaan. It was great to meet you.”

“No prob,” Vaan said with a smile. “Feel free to come by whenever you want. You owe me a rematch!”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Prompto chuckled.

After saying goodbye to Vaan again, Ius led the way back to the carpark.

“Thanks for bringing me here today, Mom,” the teen smiled gratefully once they were in the car. “You’re the best.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie,” Ius said with a smile as she started up the car.

“Do you think we can come back next time, too?” Prompto asked as she pulled away and began to drive them home.

“I’ll see what I can do… and maybe we can take your Dad, too.”

“That’d be awesome!” the blonde grinned happily.

As Ius drove, Prompto reached out and fiddled with the radio, searching for a good station. Eventually, though, he paused as he something caught his attention.

“ _—so would you say that nightmares cause a problem, Sire?_ ” a woman’s voice asked.

Prompto perked up at the word ‘nightmares’, wondering what was going on.

“ _I would not say they cause a ‘real’ problem…_ ” said a young man’s voice. “ _While they are certainly a nuisance, they do not come without solutions._ ”

Ius blinked curiously, before she let out a small ‘ah’. “Right… the Crown Prince was scheduled to go on air this week… wasn’t aware that was today, though…”

“Really? Huh…” the teen murmured, almost scoffing at the thought of what the Crown Prince had said about nightmares being a real problem and just being a nuisance. He’d spent more than a few sleepless nights because of his nightmares.

“ _Have there been many cases of nightmares in Insomnia?_ ” asked the woman from before. “ _I mean, you don’t hear a lot about them, after all._ ”

“ _In all honesty, I cannot be certain. There may be those who do, in fact, suffer from nightmares, but I’ve yet to meet anyone like that._ ”

‘ _I’m one of them, dammit…_ ’ Prompto thought irately. ‘ _If only Noct could hear this._ ’

“ _Well, if there are people out there suffering from nightmares listening right now, what would you say to them?_ ”

Prompto perked up at that.

“ _Ah… while I would certainly hope that no one needs to suffer from nightmares, if there are any people out there who suffer from nightmares… then I would urge them to find a companion whom they could take with them into their dreams._ ”

“ _A… companion?_ ”

“ _Yes. You would be surprised at how easy it becomes to face the darkness with someone by your side._ ”

But at the advice, the blonde deflated. ‘ _Not like that helps me… I’m not a kid anymore, so sleeping next to my parents isn’t an option, and I have no one else to sleep next to…_ ’ he thought dejectedly.

“What’s wrong, hun?”

“It’s nothing, no worries, Mom,” Prompto assured her with a smile.

Ius wasn’t convinced, though, and, wordlessly, reached over and changed the channel so they had some actual music on. The teen relaxed once the radio was playing music instead.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“You’re welcome, hun.”

Prompto leaned back in his seat, waiting until they got home. He was still irritated by the Crown Prince’s words, but there was nothing he could do about it.

 

Once they got home and gotten inside again after a day of being out in the open air, Ius asked: “What do you want to have for dinner, Prompto?”

“Can we do Peppery Daggerquil Rice?” the blonde asked.

“Sure, hon. It’ll take a bit, though. That okay?”

“Sure! I’m gonna go text Zidane about today,” Prompto smiled.

“Alright, hun.”

“Let me know if I can help, okay?” the teen said, starting to head upstairs.

“Oh, I’ll be fine, sweetie,” Ius assured. “You just go and relax.”

“All right,” Prompto laughed lightly, before going to his room and flopping onto his bed once he’d changed into some lounge clothes. Picking up his phone, he texted Zidane.

 **Me: Dude, guess where Mom took me today!!**  
**Zidane: Eh?**  
**Zidane: What? What happened? :O**  
**Me: Mom took me to the Chocobo Farm in town!!**  
**Me: :D**  
**Zidane: Holy hell!**  
**Zidane: That is AWESOME! :D**  
**Me: I KNOW!! I ended up racing a guy who works there, and beat him on my first try!**  
**Zidane: Hahahaha!**  
**Zidane: Nice!**  
**Zidane: He take it well?**  
**Me: Surprisingly, yes! But it was so much fun, dude! I had a blast today!**  
**Zidane: Really? I couldn’t tell! XD**  
**Me: XP What all did you guys do today?**  
**Zidane: Us? Eh. Kuja had some time off from work.**  
**Zidane: So we just went ahead to the park.**  
**Me: I hope you guys enjoyed yourselves~ Maybe next time Kuja’s off, we can go to the Chocobo Farm!**  
**Zidane: I’ll bring it up with him later!**  
**Zidane: Oh! He’s also got the tickets just about set!**  
**Me: Sweet! Tell him thanks for me, would ya?**  
**Zidane: Will do~**  
**Me: Any plans for tomorrow, by the way? Maybe we can hang out after Mom leaves for Altissia.**  
**Zidane: I got nothing, really…**  
**Zidane: The weather should be good, though.**  
**Zidane: So maybe we can go to the waterpark!**  
**Me: Good idea! Maybe Miko should come with, yeah?**  
**Zidane: If she doesn’t have anything planned with Vivi…**  
**Zidane: Unless you wouldn’t mind him coming along?**  
**Me: Not at all. I’d prefer the extra company, anyway~**  
**Zidane: Alrighty! I’ll ask her during dinner.**  
**Zidane: Kuja should be able to drive us over, if ya need one.**  
**Me: Yeah, gonna need a ride. Since Mom’s leaving again tomorrow, and I can’t drive…**  
**Zidane: Alrighty~**  
**Zidane: I’ll text you when we’re heading over.**  
**Zidane: Sound good?**  
**Me: Sounds good. I’ll see ya tomorrow, buddy.**  
**Zidane: See ya.**  
**Zidane: Keep the streak broken! XD**  
**Me: Trying to! XP**

 

As he put his phone away, Prompto’s attention then went to Boco, sitting by his pillow, still. Smiling slightly to himself, Prompto picked Boco up and held him as he began to tell his plush about the trip he’d had out with his mom for the day, excitement evident in his voice.

“They were all so amazing, but you’re the best, Boco,” he finished.

While Boco, naturally, wasn’t able to respond, Prompto could almost swear the plush appreciated the praise. As he laid there, though, Prompto’s mind once again went to the Crown Prince’s words.

“How can he say that, knowing the city the way he should…?” Prompto frowned as he laid there. “Noct knows, and somehow, he MUST know the Crown Prince… I can’t see why he wouldn’t…”

“Prompto!” Ius’ voice suddenly called from downstairs. “Dinner’s ready!”

“Coming, Mom!” the blonde called back, sitting up and setting Boco on his bed by the pillow again before heading downstairs for dinner.

 

Noctis groaned as he flopped back down on the bed. ‘ _That… could’ve gone better… urgh!_ ’

He hadn’t expected the woman to start asking about nightmares, of all things. While he’d managed to answer the questions to the best of his abilities, he was pretty sure she barely understood any of the answers. Or maybe he’d just not answered them as well as he would’ve liked…

‘ _…probably the latter… dammit…_ ’

After sighing heavily, Noctis sat up and tugged off both the cloak he was still in and the hood over his head, before removing the band keeping his ears secured. They immediately sprung up again, making Noctis hiss in relief, reaching up to rub along his head. “Gah… hate having to do that…” he mumbled as his ears twitched back and forth.

Once he had placed both items on the chair in the corner, Noctis stretched out with a yawn. “Nrgh… right… may’s well take a quick shower and then head out… see how he’s doing now.”

 

Once dinner was done with and Prompto had gone to wash up, he got into bed, where he immediately took hold of Boco and got himself comfortable.

“Goodnight, Boco,” the teen murmured, closing his eyes.

 

By the time that Noctis made his way to the house, the sun had already set. Not that that was an issue for the Crown Prince, it did mean that his ‘target’ would likely already be asleep. This time, he went in through the window straight away without bothering to check if he was (not like it would’ve mattered, anyway), and as he stepped into the room, he couldn’t help but smile when he spotted the blonde fast asleep, hugging his plushie close to his chest.

And for once, there wasn’t a trace of a nightmare in sight.

‘ _Nice~ Looks like Boco’s holding out well~_ ’

Smiling, Noctis moved over and settled on the bed.

‘ _Welp! May as well see how they’re doing~_ ’

 

_As Prompto blinked his eyes open, he found himself somewhere new, once again. It didn’t look dangerous, though, and when he looked around, he quickly spotted Boco napping next to him, giving small, chirping snores._

_“Hey Boco,” Prompto greeted, petting his friend’s head._

_The small Chocobo blinked his eyes open curiously. before he gave a small chirp as he pushed himself up._

_“Heya buddy,” the blonde chuckled._

_“Kweh~” the bird chirped happily._

_“Have a good nap?” Prompto asked._

_“Kweh~” **Yep~**_

_“Good to hear,” the teen chuckled. “So, what do we do this time?”_

_The small bird chirped in thought for a moment -- before it suddenly blinked._

_“…Kweh!!” he chirped, hopping on his talons._

_“What’s up?”_

_But before Boco could answer, he heard a sound from behind him._

_“Pireh~”_

_“Noct!” Prompto grinned, looking back to see his furry friend behind him. “I’m happy to see you!”_

_Noctis smirked as he hopped down from the crate he was on to come over._

_“Pireh~” **Hi~hi~**_

_“How are you? I missed seeing you the past few nights,” the blonde said, petting Noctis._

_“Pireh~” **I’m good. How are you two doing?**_

_“We’re doing great,” Prompto smiled._

_“Kweh~” Boco chirped happily, making Noctis smile._

_“Pireh~” **Cool~**_

_“Where were you, anyway? Just curious,” the teen asked._

_“Pireh~” **I had to work. So I couldn’t go out and have fun…**_

_“That’s lame…” Prompto sighed. “I’m glad you’re back, though.”_

_Noctis gave a small chirp ad he headed over and got up onto Boco’s back. Of course, the bird gave a small chipper sound as he hopped a bit._

_“…Hey, Noct? Do you know the Crown Prince?” the blonde asked, remembering the radio broadcast from earlier._

_This made the small critter blink._

_“Pireh~” **The Crown Prince? Why??**_

_“Cuz he was on the radio for some interview earlier, and he talked about nightmares… Saying that he didn’t think anyone in Insomnia suffered from nightmares, and his advice to anyone who does is to ‘take a companion with them into their dreams.’ I don’t even have anyone like that, and my parents don’t even know I have the nightmares to begin with… So his ‘advice’ doesn’t work for me,” Prompto explained, becoming frustrated again._

_“…” Noctis didn’t ‘say’ anything else in response right away. Not that he needed to, as Boco suddenly chirped indignantly, hopping on his talons._

_“Sorry, Boco, but I mean someone alive I can go to sleep next to… As in a relationship or whatnot…” Prompto explained apologetically, petting his living plush’s head. “I don’t have anyone like that…”_

_“Kweeehh…”_

_Noctis looked to Boco for a moment more…_

_“Pireh~” **Did he actually say that specifically, though?**_

_“No, but… still…”_

_“Pireh~” **It’s not easy to explain those kind of things. He might’ve just misspoken.**_

_“But…”_

_“Pireh~” **Keep in mind he’s still human. Humans make mistakes.**_

_“Yeah, true…” the teen conceded._

_This made Noctis smile as he hopped up to Boco’s head._

_“Pireh~” **Give him some slack; he means well.**_

_“Kay…” Prompto smiled back slightly. He knew he couldn’t complain further, but he was still annoyed by it._

_Suddenly, Noctis hopped down again and gave a cheery “Pireh~” as Prom’s phone went off._

**_Anyway! Wanna go explore?_ **

_“Sure! Where to this time?”_

_“Pireh~” **Just around. Pretty sure you haven’t been in Rabanastre before~**_

_“Definitely not,” the blonde replied._

_“Pireh~” **Well, let’s go!**_

_“Kweh!”_

_“Sounds good,” Prompto chuckled, following after._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I've been playing FFXII again... does it show?


	5. Hanging Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this thing ended up MUCH longer than I had intended... so here's part 1 of the update.

Morning came far too quickly that Sunday. Both for Prompto, and for Ius as she moved about to get everything packed at 6 in the morning.

“Alright…” Ius mumbled, as she clicked her suitcase shut with a half-relieved half-annoyed sigh. “There we go…”

“About to head out, huh Mom?” Prompto asked from the doorway, leaning lightly against the frame.

Startled at the question, Ius looked over, before she sighed softly. “Not yet… but I figured I should at least get this thing packed ahead of time.”

“True…” the blonde murmured, but despite his calm tone, it was clear he was still sad.

“…hey.” When he looked up, Ius had turned to face him and was holding out her arms.

Smiling quietly, Prompto went over to Ius and hugged her firmly, a tiny whimper escaping him unbidden, making him bite his lip harshly to stop himself from crying. This was what he hated the most; seeing his parents go after so little time together. Sure, those few days helped remind him that his parents definitely still loved him, but at the same time them leaving only fueled him having even worse nightmares than usual.

It was always the worst that first night when they left.

“I’m sorry I have to go again… but I promise I’ll try to be home more,” Ius said, kissing her son’s temple. “And we’ll see if we can get your dad home at the same time, too.”

“I know… Just sucks that you’re even gone at all…” the teen admitted.

“I know, hun… and I’m sorry,” Ius murmured, rubbing his back tenderly.

“I don’t blame you… I blame how jobs have to be,” Prompto chuckled quietly as he pulled away with a faint smile.

Ius smiled as she then pulled the suitcase of the bed. “Okay. So, let’s go get some breakfast, shall we?”

“Sounds good,” the blonde smiled.

Once downstairs, Ius immediately went to start breakfast, with Prompto actually helping her for once. As they worked, Ius decided to bring something up. “So, do you have anything planned today, hun?”

“Yeah, actually,” Prompto nodded. “I’m going to the water park with Zidane and the others later.”

“Oh? That’s nice. I did hear that the weather would certainly be good today.” Smiling, Ius ruffled his hair. “Well, you have fun, okay?”

“I will, Mom,” the teen smiled, before fixing his hair.

 

After breakfast, Ius hugged Prompto one more time, telling him, again, that she’d be back as soon as she could, before she headed out, getting in the taxi she’d called to head to Galdin Quay. As the driver put her suitcase in the trunk, Ius kissed Prompto’s forehead, once more promising she’d be back soon, before she climbed into the car. And, while the taxi drove off, she waved to her son until the vehicle had completely disappeared from his view.

Once she was out of sight, Prompto felt that familiar lonely ache he always felt every time one or both of his parents leave back to work. Sighing heavily, he headed back inside, closing and locking the door behind him on instinct, and went up to his room, where he flopped onto his bed with a huff, which caused Boco to flop over to land on his cheek.

Blinking, Prompto picked up the plush, before sitting up and holding Boco close.

“…Life sucks sometimes, doesn’t it…?” he asked Boco quietly, even though he knew he wouldn’t get an answer.

Which was exactly when his phone suddenly beeped.

“Hm?” the blonde hummed, before checking his texts.

 **Zidane: We’re on our way!**  
**Zidane: Should be there in 15.**  
**Zidane: Get your swimming gear ready! XD**

Prompto chuckled softly, before typing back.

**Me: Sounds good! I’ll be waiting!**

He then got up to get ready, changing into his swim shorts and a t-shirt for the time being, and getting some sunscreen and other random necessities. He was pretty sure Kuja would have lunch prepared for them, since that was just how the older Tribal was, so he didn’t have to worry about that.

 By the time he had everything, he heard the familiar rumble of a Lexus coming up to the driveway, followed by a quick, brief honk. Grinning, the teen hurried downstairs with his bag, slipping on his sandals on the way before going outside, locking the front door behind himself and going to Kuja’s silver Lexus.

“Hey guys!” he grinned as he climbed into the back behind the passenger’s seat.

“Hey buddy!” Zidane laughed from said seat, while Kuja nodded with a hum, which was the usual greeting for him when he was behind the wheel, really.

Mikoto nodded at him with a smile and a polite “Good morning,” as she settled a bit better in her seat. She had her hair in the usual “twin tail” style where she had two ponytails on her shoulders, and the rest hanging down her back. Prompto could also spot the straps of her swimsuit under her shirt already.

“Vivi will meet us at the park,” Kuja said casually as he shifted gears and pulled out of the driveway. “Since his house is closer to it, he offered to just walk the distance.”

“Gotcha,” Prompto nodded. “How have you guys been, Kuja, Mikoto? It’s been a little while.”

“I’m holding up alright,” Mikoto said, smiling, before she looked to the eldest of the Tribal siblings.

Kuja hummed as he absently shrugged his shoulders. “Ah, works keeps me busy enough most days.” he said without looking away from the road.

“Fair enough,” the taller blonde said. “Thanks for the ride, by the way, Kuja.”

“No problem, dear~” the silver-haired man said with a chuckle as he turned into the next corner.

“So Mikoto, did Zidane tell you about my mom taking me to the Chocobo Farm yesterday?” Prompto asked eagerly.

“He did mention something to that extent, yes,” Mikoto said, making Zidane laugh from the front seat. “I believe he also mentioned about us all going there at one point…”

“Yeah, I think it’d be really fun,” Prompto grinned. “They’re so cute in person compared to pictures!”

This made the girl giggle. “You’re so easily excited with anything concerning Chocobos,” she pointed out, somewhat teasingly (for her).

“Well, they _are_ amazing,” Prompto replied with a laugh.

“Yeah, like we couldn’t tell from how you go on and on about ‘em, dude!” Zidane laughed, looking back over his shoulder.

“Hush,” Prompto pouted.

Kuja only chuckled softly, as he turned into the road that would lead to the parking lot for the water park. “Almost there, people~”

“Awesome!” Prompto grinned, perking back up.

It took a bit for them to find a parking spot, since they definitely weren’t the only ones having the bright idea to go to the waterpark with the current weather, but they finally found a spot relatively close to the entrance. Once Kuja had parked the car and turned off the engine, he quipped: “Aaand we’re here.”

“Nice~” Zidane laughed as he unclipped his seatbelt and pushed open the door.

Prompto unclipped his own seatbelt, and then hopped out after opening the door. “We’d best find Vivi so he knows we’re here.”

“He should be over by the entrance,” Mikoto said as she closed the door behind her.

Kuja merely hummed as he moved over and opened up the trunk, pulling out the canvas bag that, clearly, had the siblings’ things in it. Once he shut it, he said: “Okay, kiddos; let’s mosey on over to the park, shall we?”

“Sounds good!” Prompto agreed eagerly.

Like that, the group of four headed toward the park’s entrance, with Kuja easily carrying their bag along his shoulder, while the younger teens chatted the entire way there. And as they got close, they immediately spotted the nervous-looking boy standing by the entrance, holding a backpack in his arms as he was looking around slowly.

“Yo! Vivi!!” Zidane shouted, waving for the black-haired boy, who jumped and looked over in alarm, before calming down.

“H-hey, Zidane,” he said as they came close.

“Hiya Vivi!” Prompto greeted. “How’ve you been?”

“O-oh hi Prompto. Um I-I’m okay… thank you,” the boy got out.

Mikoto smiled as she took the boy’s hand, who barely managed a smile at the blonde, much to everyone’s amusement.

“Alright then, since we’re all here, let’s go in~” Kuja said.

“Alrighty!” Zidane cheered with a laugh.

“Oh, and I don’t want to see any Houdini’s on the beach today,” the older Tribal said sternly.

“Fiiiiine.”

“I’m good, I already got set at home earlier,” Prompto chuckled.

Zidane merely snorted, but he was clearly chuckling.

“Shut it,” Prompto grumbled. “At least I’m prepared.”

Zidane merely stuck out his tongue as they walked down the path.

Despite the high number of cars in the lot, the amount of people in the actual park was actually fairly low, which gave them a full few of the park’s first area. A spherical pit had been dug into the ground, which was still shallow enough for children to get out with zero issues, even if the surface was wet… which was 99% of the time, with the construction set up in a center.

The best way to describe it was a series of pillars of various heights with a number of egg-shaped windmills set up on the ends. However, they weren’t designed to catch any wind; instead, they were meant to be spun around when sprayed with water from the piping installed in the pillars, creating the illusion of a light rain down below. That in itself was already fun for kids to play around in, but the numerous slides that were built around the pillars only added to the charm.

As they went, Prompto thought vaguely about Noctis’s defending words for the Crown Prince, but he didn’t linger on it long, since he was with his friends.

“Alright!” Zidane quipped as they moved over to a grassy area to the side to put their things. “Wanna go for the slides first, Prom?”

“Sure!” the taller blonde nodded, following after Zidane once the shorter blonde had ditched his shoes and socks.

After sliding down into the pit, the two teens moved over to the steps of the slides, where they paused for a moment. “Okay… small, medium or big one?”

“Go big or go home, dude,” Prompto snorted with a laugh.

Zidane laughed at that, as he led the way up the staircase, keeping both hands on the railing on both sides as he went. Prompto was close behind him, doing the same.

Once at the top, they took a moment to look over the edge, toward the others. “YO, KUJ!! MIKO!!” Zidane shouted, waving as the others looked up. Mikoto was clearly giggling once she spotted him, and waved back, while Kuja merely watched with a small smirk.

“Do you have to yell that loud, man? Think you almost broke my eardrums…” Prompto grumbled, rubbing at his ears a little.

“Duh. How else they gonna hear us?” Zidane laughed, right before he grabbed the bar over the slide and threw himself down it with a cackle.

“Dear Six…” the teen muttered, rolling his eyes, before waiting a couple of seconds and then following after.

The slide down took barely 10 seconds, and the moment Prompto hit the shallow pool below, he got splashed in the face.

“Gah!!” he yelped, startled, before realization hit as he heard Zidane laughing. “Hey!!” Prompto yelled, before he splashed the shorter blonde back with a bigger splash of water.

“Gah! Hahaha! Deal with it!” Zidane cackled, kicking up even more water at his friend.

Prompto copied him, kicking up water and splashing with his hands, too. “Take this!!”

Zidane yowled at the splash, before laughing as he retaliated immediately. However, just then, both of them suddenly got splashed from the side, making both teens yowl. Mikoto merely giggled while Vivi smiled nervously.

“Mikoto!” Prompto exclaimed with a laugh, before turning on Zidane, just for the hell of it.

“Hey!!” the blonde cried out, before retaliating.

Prompto merely laughed, splashing him with an even larger splash of water.

 

After almost half an hour of just fooling around in the shallow pit, the group of four finally moved out, still laughing and giggling as they went. Zidane was quick to get rid of his shirt (since he hadn’t bothered to take it off before diving in) and drop it off with Kuja, who didn’t seem to mind in the slightest.

“Okay, sooo… do we go to the ‘beach’, or we head to the dam?” Zidane asked.

“Take your pick, man,” Prompto shrugged, wringing out his own shirt. He wasn’t going to take his off if he could help it, since he was still way too insecure about his own body. Even though he knew his friends wouldn’t judge him like _that_.

“Hmm… Miko?” Zidane asked casually.

Mikoto merely rolled her eyes, before she chuckled. “Let’s just head to the dam. We all know you want to cause another tidal wave.”

“Hey! It’s fun to watch the water go that fast!”

“You know it’s true, Mikoto,” Prompto chuckled.

Vivi merely giggled in response to the ‘argument’, even as they began to head off to the other side of the park, telling Kuja they’d be back (eventually), who merely nodded his head and told them to have fun.

As they walked, Prompto continued to wring some of the water out of his royal blue t-shirt, glad he’d chosen that color to hide his marks better.

Finally, the group of four reached their destination. The “dam” that Zidane had spoken of earlier was a fairly simple construction of wooden sluicegates set up on a small hillside. Each gate had a small reservoir to the side, that, could only be filled once the gate was shut, and would still let some water through at a steady trickle. When they arrived, all of the gates were opened, the chains used to keep them open secured along the top, and Zidane grinned.

“Nice~” he laughed, immediately running for the last gate in line. And then, with a simple flick of the wrist, the chain was released and the gate slammed shut.

“You just can’t wait, huh?” Prompto snorted with a laugh, to which Zidane just grinned.

Mikoto giggled as she came over with Vivi, watching the water flow into the main reservoir, as well as the side reservoir once that one was shut. “Looks like it’s filling up quite quickly.

“I don’t think Zidane’s gonna complain, though,” Prompto pointed out.

“Nope~ Next!” Zidane said as the reservoir was nearly entirely full, moving toward the next gate with the others close behind.

Prompto chuckled softly as he followed after his friend.

 

Like that, they went down the line of gates, locking in the maximum amount of water possible in each of them before moving on, until, finally, they had closed the last one.

“Okay… now we gotta split up to open ‘m once the water reaches the next gate!”

“Sounds good, Zidane,” Prompto chuckled, before splitting off to open them.

Once everyone was at a separate gate (Zidane at the first, Prompto at the second, Mikoto at the third, and Vivi at the fourth), the small group looked at each other for a moment.

“Ready?” Zidane called out.

“Yep!”

“Yes,” Mikoto said with a nod.

“Y-yeah,” Vivi got out.

“Alright! One, two… THREE!!” Zidane shouted, before he yanked on the chain, unleashing the wave of water they’d prepared and locking the chain in place, so that he could then run for the fifth gate.

Prompto yanked on his chain, unleashing his wave of water next, running off to the next gate, as well. Mikoto watched for a moment as the water came to her, and then, with a bit of effort, yanked on her own chain, releasing the water to rush down the channel. Vivi flinched a bit as the water came for him, but he did, in fact, yank on the chain as the water reached him.

Zidane laughed as he reached the fifth gate, and then pulled on the chain to release the water yet again. And Prompto also laughed a little as well upon reaching the sixth gate, pulling on its chain, too.

Mikoto just barely managed to reach the seventh gate, pulling it open before they could lose all their progress, and Vivi staggered a bit, but he just barely managed to open the final gate, finally releasing the “tidal wave” they had built up. The group laughed as they watched the water crashing down into the pool at the end, almost spilling over the edge from the force.

“Nice!” Zidane laughed.

“Okay, as usual, that was awesome,” Prompto laughed.

“Th-that was fun, yeah…” Vivi said with a smile.

“Damn straight it was fun!” Zidane laughed as the pool was slowly drained of the water to be sent back to the start of the channel. “Don’t think it’s ever gonna get old!”

“True,” Prompto agreed.

“Okay! So!” Zidane exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “Who’s up for swinging over the water?”

“Sure, sounds good,” Prompto chuckled.

With that said, the group headed over to the zipline on the higher side of the ‘beach’, with Zidane going ahead and grabbing the rope to get to the other side. “Alrighty; who’s up first?”

“Guess I’ll go,” Prompto shrugged.

“Alright. Here ya go, buddy,” Zidane said as he passed the rope to Prompto.

“Thanks,” Prompto said, taking the rope before backing up a little, and then swinging himself off the ground and along the zipline.

As he reached the other end of the line, he almost fell off from the force with which the rope reached the end, but he somehow managed to stay on long enough to get off on his own.

“Nice one! Toss it over here!!” Zidane shouted.

Prompto complied, tossing the rope back.

The shorter blonde easily caught the rope in one hand, after which he passed it on to Mikoto. “Here ya go, your turn!”

Mikoto merely sighed with a small smile as she took the rope silently. And as she got a firm grip on the rope, Prompto watched his friend happily from the other side, waiting for her to join him. She took a few breaths, before she ran a short distance and then hopped on, letting her own weight carry her across the water with childish ease.

“Nice one, Mikoto!” Prompto grinned when she joined him.

The girl smiled with a nod, before she turned to the other teens, and threw the rope back, which Zidane caught with ease. Once he had it, he passed the rope to Vivi, who seemed more than a little worried.

“It’s fine! Go for it!”

“You can do it, Vivi!” Prompto encouraged.

“C’mon, Vivi! It’s easy!” Mikoto shouted as well.

Vivi bit his lip, still worried, but he, in the end, ran the short distance and jumped on the rope, gasping as he basically flew across the river.

Once he got to the other side, Prompto helped to catch him, steadying the boy as he let go of the rope. “Good job, man!” he grinned

Vivi breathed out in slight relief as he stepped off of the rope.

“You did really well, Vivi,” Prompto smiled, before stepping back after tossing the rope over so Zidane could come over, too.

The other blonde easily caught it, and without wasting a beat, he kicked off and threw himself across the river with a laugh. Once on the other side, he hopped off easily, still cackling like a mad-man.

“You sound like some kind of villain when you cackle like that, dude,” Prompto teased.

Of course, Zidane merely stuck out his tongue cheekily as he pushed the rope away from them. “Well, anyway, what say we go see what Kuj’s up to? I’m getting a bit hungry, too.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Mikoto agreed.

“Agreed,” Prompto nodded.

The small group began to walk back the way they’d come originally. Where, as expected, Kuja was still sitting, in the middle of reading a book from the looks of it.

“Heya Kuja!” Prompto called as they got close.

The man hummed as he looked up. As he saw them, he smirked a bit. “Hmhmm. Had fun, kids?”

“Yep~” Zidane quipped with a grin.

“Sure did~” Prompto added.

“Good,” was the casual response as they all plopped down on the ground next to Kuja. “Since you’re here, feel free to get whatever from the basket,” he said, gesturing to said picnic basket.

“Don’t mind if we do~” Zidane laughed as he tugged it over.

“Thanks, Kuja,” Prompto smiled, looking inside to see what there was.

There were several different types of sandwiches in the basket, as well as some pieces of fruit and a number of bottles of what appeared to be freshly pressed juice. “Sweet,” Zidane laughed as he pulled out one of the sandwiches and a bottle of orange juice.

“Looks tasty,” Prompto agreed, pulling out a sandwich as well, and a bottle of apple juice.

Mikoto picked out two sandwiches, passing one to Vivi, before going for a lighter yellow juice and one with both yellow and orange in it.

As Prompto began to eat, he idly wondered if he should tell the others about Noctis and how he’s been helping him with his nightmares. In the end, he decided against it, figuring he’d give it more time. Maybe if everything at the Dreamer Ball went well, then he would.

“Oy, Prom? You alright, bud?” Zidane asked after swallowing a bite.

“Hm? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Just thinking about Mom, since she left for Altissia again today, is all,” Prompto lied.

“Ah right…” the other blonde mumbled, frowning a bit.

Mikoto frowned sadly, before she glanced over to Kuja. The older Tribal noticed despite being focused on his book, and hummed a bit. “Well, just remember you’re always welcome if you want.”

“Thanks, guys,” Prompto murmured gratefully. “I may take you up on that tonight, if that’s okay… Usually the first night is the hardest.”

“That’s fine,” Kuja said with a nod. “I’ll make sure the spare room’s ready later, then…”

“Dude! He can just stay in my room!” Zidane said immediately. “I’ll take the futon, and he can just take the bed.”

“You sure, Zidane?” Prompto asked, furrowing his brows a little. “I don’t want to steal your bed from you…”

“It’s fine, dude! I’ll survive for one night,” Zidane laughed.

Kuja merely chuckled. “I’d advise you not to argue, Prompto. You know how he gets~”

“True,” Prompto admitted. “I’ll just have to get some stuff together at home after we’re done here, then. It won’t take me long.”

“That’s fine,” Kuja said simply, before he turned to Vivi. “What about you, Vivi?”

“Wha-what? M-me?”

“Yes. Since the spare room’s not being used, if you want, you can come over as well, if you want.”

“U-uh…”

“Come on, Vivi, if Kuja’s offering, it’s fine,” Prompto smiled.

“Um… w-well…” After looking over to Mikoto briefly, who smiled and nodded, he finally nodded slowly. “O-okay… thank you.”

“Quite welcome~”

Prompto smiled at the accepting reply, before returning to his sandwich.

 

After several more, long, but enjoyable hours of messing around in the park, the group of 5 headed back to Kuja’s car once they’d all dried off. Since there were now five of them, it took a bit of managing, which ended up with Mikoto, Vivi and Zidane in the back, and Prompto in front while Kuja, of course, drove. The first stop on the list was Vivi’s house, so he could pick up a change of clothes as well as some sleepwear. Then, after that, they headed for Prompto’s for the exact same reason.

Prompto was quick to get out and head inside to pack his things, including his school bag and uniform for the next day, since it was Sunday. He was nearly at the front door again when he froze, realizing he’d almost forgotten Boco.

“Shit,” he cursed, running back upstairs and carefully packing Boco into his bag. “Sorry, buddy, I spaced…” he apologized as he zipped up his bag again. The blonde then ran back outside, locking the front door behind him again before climbing back into Kuja’s Lexus. “All set!” he smiled.

Kuja nodded as he pulled out again and began to drive off. “We will have to take one more stop before going home, though,” he said calmly as they went.

“Shopping, eh?” Zidane asked calmly.

“Correct.”

“Makes sense.”

“Good point,” Prompto nodded.

Thankfully, it was only a short drive to the store, and after parking, the group got out calmly. “Alright, let’s see what to do for tonight, shall we?”

“You got it, Kuj! C’mon, Prom, let’s go!”

“Coming, Zidane!” Prompto grinned, following after his friend closely.

Once in the store, Zidane immediately headed to the snacks section. “C’mon! Let’s get ourselves some snacks!”

Prompto laughed at that. “Won’t Kuja get pissed about a bunch of snacks? I thought we were helping to look for dinner stuff.

“Not if we get him his favorite, too~” Zidane chuckled with a grin as he went ahead. “Besides, I’m sure Miko’s got most of it covered!”

“Good point,” Prompto chuckled.

After a bit of walking around, Zidane snagged up a super-sized bag of wine gummies for Kuja, and then snagged up a bag of spicy chips. “Okay… which one do you want?”

Prompto opened his mouth to answer, but then an unwelcome voice butt in.

“Well, I’d steal them both from you, so you may wanna save your money, losers,” Seifer smirked from behind them as he sauntered over, Rai and Fuu flanking him as usual.

“Good idea, Seifer, ya know?!” Rai guffawed.

“Oh great…” Zidane groaned in annoyance, snarling. “Wasn’t aware the circus got to town already…”

Fuu, in response, glared at the shorter of the two boys, and Zidane returned the favor just as harshly.

“Ah, piss off, short-ass,” Seifer growled. “Why do you bother with this loser, anyway?

“I got no obligation to tell you jack, Almasy,” Zidane snorted, waving him off. “Now bugger off. We’re busy here.”

“Why should I?” Seifer retorted rhetorically. “I got nothing better to do.”

Prompto frowned worriedly, hoping Seifer wouldn’t try to fight Zidane again. Each time, he got his ass handed to him, and Zidane was quite proud of that.

Not that that helped in a store.

“…You seriously wanna start shit in here?” Zidane growled as he passed the two bags to Prompto. “Ya think I wouldn’t dare to put you in your place?”

Prompto took the two bags hesitantly, really not wanting there to be a fight.

“You know it’s been a fluke each time you’ve won, shorty,” Seife spat, clenching his fists.

“Oh really?” was the shorter’s response as he reached up and cracked his knuckles. “Wanna try me?”

“Why not?” Seifer smirked, and even Rai cracked his own knuckles, grinning wickedly.

But before either of them could lunge for the other, someone suddenly cleared their throat. “While I do not want to interfere,” came a calm, collected voice that had everyone looking over, “perhaps you boys should save the squabbles for later… when you aren’t surrounded by fragile items on all sides.”

The man standing there looked more than a little out of place, what with his almost fancy suit and his sandy-blonde hair slicked back as it was. What made the boss give pause, though, was the firm gaze aimed at them from behind the man’s spectacles.

Zidane, finally, grumbled in annoyance. “They started it…”

“Zidane, doesn’t mean you need to finish it. Let’s just leave it this time, please?” Prompto asked quietly.

Seifer growled irritably, before backing down. “Fine. But next time’s fair game, short-ass,” he spat at Zidane, before turning and leaving with his lackies flanking him. Once they were gone, Prompto looked at the sandy blonde gratefully. “Thank you for that,” he said politely.

The man hummed as he reached up and adjusted his glasses. “Quite alright. Though I would suggest trying to keep such displays of anger toned down. Especially in public areas.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever…” Zidane grumbled.

“He’s got a point, Zidane,” Prompto chuckled, before looking to the man again. “Sorry, that guy’s just a major bully for me, and picks on me regularly. If it wasn’t for Zidane, I’d be getting beat up quite a lot.”

The man hummed a bit, nodding his head in understanding. “Understandable, but even then, it’d be best to find an alternative way to handle this.”

“Alright, I get it! Esh!” Zidane said as he ran a hand through his hair, sighing. “Anywho… Prom? Got an idea?” he asked, gesturing for the snacks behind him.

“Yeah, let’s get the chips for us,” Prompto said, before pausing, and looking back to the man. “By the way, can I at least know your name? Mine’s Prompto Argentum.”

“Oy, Prom…” Zidane mumbled softly as he grabbed the bag, much to the man’s amusement.

“Pleasure, I’m sure.” However, before he could introduce himself…

“Oh, so this is where you boys went,” a familiar voice called out, making Zidane and Prompto look over as Kuja came over. “I swear, you two--” However, suddenly, the older man stopped talking and blinked, before he suddenly chuckled. “Well now, there’s a sight~ What brings you here, Iggy?”

“Iggy??” Zidane and Prompto chorused, as the sandy-blonde snorted bemusedly.

“Yes, good to see you as well, Kuja. If you must know, our usual supplier ran out of the ingredients we needed for tonight.”

Zidane looked back and forth between the man and Kuja, before he asked of his brother: “Wait you know this guy??”

“I’d like to think so, yes,” Kuja replied with a chuckle, which had the man smirk a little bit.

“Quite,” he said, before nodding. “My name is Ignis Scientia. And I’m assuming this young man is your brother, correct?” he asked, nodding to Zidane.

“Shocking as it may seem, yes, he is.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Zidane demanded.

“You guys look and act nothing alike, Zidane,” Prompto snorted.

“Nobody asked you, bud,” the other mumbled with a small snort and a half-smirk.

“In any case, if you boys are done hoarding the snacks, shall we go? I’m sure Mikoto and Vivi would appreciate the help carrying the supplies.”

“Alright, alright,” Zidane mumbled, even as he snagged up one more bag of strawberry candies for his sister and Vivi to share.

With a small nod, Kuja then turned to Ignis with a smirk and a half-wave. “I suppose I’ll see you later tomorrow, Iggy. Oh, and do give everyone my regards, if you could.”

“Naturally,” the man said with a smile of his own.

“Thank you again, Ignis!” Prompto called as he left with the Tribal siblings.

Ignis merely waved as he went the opposite direction. Zidane watched him go for a moment and, once he was out of earshot…

“…Friend from work?”

“Well… friend is giving us too much credit… I’d sooner say ‘acquaintances’,” Kuja said calmly. “We don’t usually talk much…”

“Coulda fooled me…”

“He seems nice enough, considering he stopped Seifer and his flunkies,” Prompto shrugged.

This actually gave Kuja pause and he frowned. “…Seifer… isn’t that this Almasy punk you keep bringing up, Zidane?”

“Yep… asshole was being his usual assholish self again…” the younger sibling grumbled.

“Won’t argue with you there…” Prompto muttered. “He tried to start a brawl with Zidane. Kept poking the hornets’ nest.”

Kuja sighed heavily as he reached up for his forehead. “…Zidane…”

“What?! I wasn’t about to let--”

“Just take it outside, next time. Don’t make a scene indoors.”

“…Yeah, okay.”

“At least he didn’t say not to fight him at all,” Prompto pointed out.

Zidane hummed with a nod. “I can live with that.”

Prompto chuckled. “Of course. Then again, he shouldn’t even be bullying anyone in the first place…”

Kuja didn’t bother to say anything else on the matter as they managed to locate Mikoto and Vivi as they were putting the last things in the cart. “All done?”

“Yes.”

“What’s the dinner plan then, huh?” Prompto asked with a smile.

“We’re keeping things simple, so we’re just doing a Dali Hot Pot,” Kuja said calmly.

“Oooh! Nice~ Haven’t had that in forever!” Zidane laughed.

“Dali Hot Pot? What’s that?” Prompto asked, confused.

“Oh you’ll see when we get home~” Kuja chuckled as Zidane dropped all the snacks in the cart.

“Okay…?” Prompto uttered, puzzled, before shrugging it off as they went to go pay.

As Zidane and Mikoto began to systematically put all the groceries on the conveyor belt, Kuja fetched a linen bag that was available and passed it to Prompto. “Mind bagging things, dear?”

“Not at all,” Prompto replied with a smile, beginning to bag the groceries.

Like that, they worked in silence, with Kuja not even batting an eye at the snacks Zidane and Prompto had picked. Instead, the older Tribal merely paid for the groceries while making some random small talk with the cashier.

When everything was paid for and bagged, the group headed back for the exit. As they stepped out the doorway, however, Seifer’s voice called out to them, or more specifically, Prompto.

“Oh, so now you’re better off cuz you got numbers, huh?” he taunted as he approached with Rai and Fuu again. Prompto frowned nervously, knowing no one but Zidane would fight him this time, and Ignis wasn’t around to stop him, either.

Zidane regarded Seifer with a glare and, for a moment, he looked like he was about to lunge for the other teen… but then a small smirk actually came over his face.

Noticing this, Prompto quirked a brow at his friend, wondering what the hell he was smirking for. And he wasn’t the only one.

“What’s the smirk for, short-ass?” Seifer growled.

“Excuse me,” came a cold voice suddenly, as Kuja suddenly stepped up behind his brother. The expression on his face was downright menacing, especially with the red eyeshadow the older man was known to wear on a daily basis. “Exactly _what_ did you just call my little brother there, hm?”

“Short-ass, cuz he’s fucking short as hell,” Seifer snapped. “What about it?”

In response, Kuja stepped up to Seifer, then, after putting his hands on his hips, Kuja leaned forward to look him in the eye. “So…” he said solemnly, “what does that make _you_ , then… ‘Shorty’?”

“Compared to you, maybe, but he’s shorter than just about everyone!” Seifer spat.

“Perhaps I haven’t made my point properly… so let me make this very clear,” Kuja said, his voice suddenly dropping to a dangerous snarl.

Seifer glared, not liking where this was going.

“If you choose to continue pursuing this matter with my family _or_  any of their friends… I will not be held accountable for any… ‘incidents’ that may or may not come your way. Are we clear?”

“What do--” Seifer started to demand.

“ _I said are we clear!?_ ” Kuja demanded.

“…Crystal,” Seifer muttered, glaring at Kuja irately, before turning and leaving with Rai and Fuu.

“…little punk,” Kuja scoffed as he straightened up, ignoring Zidane’s snickering from behind him.

“He’s been like that for a while, Kuja, it’s nothing new,” Prompto sighed. “I just hope he takes your threat as real, and not an idle one.”

The older Tribal merely hummed, as he turned to the others. “Alright, anyway… let’s pack up and head home.”


	6. Crossing Over

As Ignis walked into the Citadel, he wasn’t surprised when the first thing he saw was Noctis and Gladio walking down the hall, with the taller man laughing and ruffling the prince’s hair, who was grumbling a bit in clear annoyance. It took them a few moments to notice him, but when they did, Gladio grunted with a nod.

“Yo, Iggy!” he said with a half wave. “Got what you needed?”

“Yes. Also, Kuja sends his regards,” Ignis said calmly.

Those words actually had Noctis blinking and tilting his ears a bit. “I thought Kuja was off today…”

“He was; I ran into him at the store with his brother.”

“Oh, okay.”

Ignis chuckled at the simple response. “Well then… I’ll see you both at dinner.”

“Right,” Noctis said, nodding, before he headed off, probably to do whatever he wanted to do until dinner.

“…Hey, Ignis,” Gladio suddenly said as the prince was out of sight.

Surprised at the man calling him by his full name, as he didn’t do that often unless it was serious. “Hm?”

“You notice how the kid’s been acting up recently?”

He had, but he was almost certain that he’d been seeing things. After all, Noctis was known to be fairly moody at certain times, and no one really looked up when he was either extremely grumpy and annoyed, or quiet and relaxed. Recently, though, the prince seemed to be in a mood that was very hard to pin down. It wasn’t a bad thing, but it was definitely odd to see him in such a consistently good mood for an extended period of time.

“I have… what do you make of it?”

“Not sure…” Gladio admitted. “While it’s not a bad thing… it’s definitely suspicious.”

Ignis hummed a bit. “…Perhaps we should keep a closer eye on his activities.”

“Yeah, maybe…”

 

With everything now dealt with, the group of friends finally headed to the Tribal household, which was almost twice as big as Prompto’s (not surprising given how many people it was meant to hold normally). Despite that, it still retained its homey feel that most houses in his own neighborhood had.

“So! Excited ‘bout your first sleepover in like… forever?” Zidane asked with a grin as they got out of the car.

“Definitely,” Prompto chuckled. “It’s been since, what, summer break, probably?”

“Somewhere ‘round there, yeah,” Zidane said with a shrug and a grin.

“Alright, Zidane, please show Prompto and Vivi where they can put their things,” Kuja said as he and Mikoto got the bags of groceries. “And once you’re done, meet us in the kitchen to start the hot pot.”

“Will do, Kuj! C’mon, guys, we’re going up!” Zidane called as he went ahead.

“Is there anything I can do to help with dinner, Kuja?” Prompto asked.

“Put your things away first, _then_ we’ll start,” Kuja pointed out.

“All right,” Prompto said with a chuckle, going inside with Zidane and Vivi.

The shorter blonde led the way up the stairs, guiding Vivi into the spare bedroom first. “Just put your stuff wherever, Vivi.”

“A-ah. Right. Thanks, Zidane.”

“No prob! C’mon Prom! Let’s get you set up, too!”

“Sounds good, man,” Prompto smiled, following after his friend.

Zidane’s room was a little further down the hall, and when they came in, it was really not much different from the last time Prompto had been over. Despite what most would think, Zidane’s room was almost spotless, with everything put in easy to reach spots and sorted in a logical fashion. Some would think it was because he still lived with Kuja and the older man was tidying up the room, but Zidane was VERY protective of his own things, and often wouldn’t even let his older brother touch them, much less step into his room.

As Zidane moved over to his closet to grab his futon, Prompto walked over to the only bed in the room. But as he moved to put his bag on the bed, he noticed something on the nightstand that he’d never noticed before…

It was a small statuette of a green, fox-like creature with a small red gem on its forehead.

“Hey, Zidane,” Prompto said. “Where’d you get that statuette?”

“Hm?” With his arms full of futon, Zidane looked over curiously. “Oh that thing? Got that from Kuja. He said he ‘didn’t need it anymore’, so he offered it to one of us. Miko thought it was cute… but she declined in the end.”

“Huh, interesting,” Prompto murmured, thinking immediately of Noctis when he looked at it. ‘How would Kuja get something like that, though…?’ he wondered to himself.

“Hey, if ya like it, maybe ask Kuja where he got it and he could maybe get you one.”

“It _is_ pretty cute,” Prompto admitted. “I’ll probably ask him at dinner, then.”

Chuckling, Zidane dropped the futon in an area where it wouldn’t be in the way, and began to set it up for later. Once he was done, he nodded. “Right! Let’s get Vivi and get back downstairs.”

“Sounds like a plan,” the taller blonde agreed after setting his bag such on the bed.

After picking up Vivi, who had just barely gotten his things sorted, they headed downstairs, toward the kitchen, where Kuja was working on what appeared to be some sort of small stove set.

“U-um… i-is that for the hot pot?” Vivi asked cautiously.

“Yes,” Kuja said calmly.

“Anything I can help with?” Prompto offered.

“Dude, cool your jets,” Zidane laughed. “This thing’s a group effort either way!”

“All right, all right, already!” Prompto chuckled. “Just wanna do my share since I’m kind of intruding.”

“Don’t be silly,” Kuja said as he flicked a few switches to test the stove. “You’re an invited guest. You’re hardly ‘intruding’, as you put it.”

“Still,” Prompto shrugged.

After a moment more, Kuja nodded and stepped back, rolling up his sleeves. “Alright then; everyone in the kitchen. Let’s begin.”

“Gotcha,” Zidane laughed, as they followed after.

“Right behind ya,” Prompto smiled.

When they got to the kitchen, Mikoto seemed to have just finished setting up five different ‘stations’, with various different ingredients and tools to use. Kuja hummed a bit in thought, before he turned to the other boys. “Zidane, you’re chopping.”

“Alrighty,” the blonde said, stepping up to a cutting board with a number of vegetables.

“Vivi, go over there and crush all those berries.”

“U-um… okay?”

“Miko, you’re in charge of the sauce.”

“Got it.”

“And… Prompto, cut this meat into cubes.”

“Sounds good,” Prompto nodded, moving to do just that.

As everyone began to get to work, with Kuja working on some sort of dough, with which he made small balls of some kind, it still wasn’t entirely clear just what they were all working on. Anyone looking in on the outside would think that they were even working on five separate dishes altogether.

Prompto managed to make quick work of the meat, cubing it nicely. “There we go, Kuja,” he said when he was done.

“Alright, put them in that bowl over there,” Kuja said as he worked on the last piece of dough.

“Okay,” Prompto nodded, scraping them off of the cutting board and into the aforementioned bowl.

Just as he finished that, Zidane finished with the last veggies, sliding them in one of the many bowls set up for him. Vivi, meanwhile, was just finishing with crushing the berries, while Mikoto was still busy stirring quietly.

“What else can I do, Kuja?” Prompto asked. “Anything?”

“We’re not done yet,” Kuja said simply as he tossed the last pieces of dough in his bowl, before he picked it up. “To the stove,” he declared, leading the way to the table.

“Okay,” Prompto nodded, following after.

Without a word, Kuja reached over and flicked on the stove. “Miko.” Said girl moved over and poured a little bit of the sauce she’d worked on into the pan. “Zidane, lettuce.”

“Gotcha,” Zidane said, putting half of his lettuce bowl in the pan as the heat started rising. All the while, Prompto watched curiously, eager for when it was done.

As the sauce slowly began to bubble, Kuja began stirring the contents and just turning it over and over a few times. And as this went on, Prompto caught the pleasant aroma when the sauce began to heat up. “Smells really good,” he commented.

Kuja merely hummed. “…Prompto, get me one scoop of meat.”

“Okay,” the blonde nodded, grabbing the bowl and carefully scooping in a single scoop of the meat into the pan, which Kuja immediately stirred into the sauce.

“Right… Vivi, I need a small sprinkle of your berry dust.”

“O-okay…!” Vivi squeaked, lightly sprinkling a bit in the pan.

Prompto continued to watch Kuja stir up the pan’s contents.

“Carrots.” Zidane dumped all his carrots at the call. “Add some more sauce.” Miko’s turn again, after which Kuja added a handful of dough balls, before stirring again. “…One more scoop.” Prompto added another scoop of meat at the call.

Like that, they each continued on and on until, finally, they had added all the ingredients to the pan. The stew was, by now, boiling just enough to be noticeable, as Kuja stirred the entire concoction around and around.

“Oh yeah, that looks like it’s good to boil for a bit,” Zidane laughed.

“H-huh?”

“Miko, get the lid, will you?” Kuja said.

Mikoto nodded, hurrying back into the kitchen, and returning with a lid, which she put on the pot once Kuja removed the ladle.

“And now we leave it like that for a while,” the oldest Tribal said calmly.

“Sounds good,” Prompto smiled. “What do you wanna do while we wait, Zidane?”

“Well… how bout we play some Smash while we wait?” Zidane offered with a grin.

“Sure,” Prompto grinned.

The teens made their way to the living room, where the Tribals had their entertainment systems set up. As the others got comfy after collecting their controllers of choice, Zidane moved to get the Switch turned on and put in the correct game card. Once that was done, he walked over and plopped himself down on the couch with his friends.

“Alrighty! So just go free for all or you guys wanna do some tourneys?”

“Free for all,” Prompto shrugged.

“U-um… sure… let’s do that,” Vivi added, as Mikoto nodded.

“Gotcha.” Nodding, Zidane set up the game mode, after some back and forth with the others, before they finally came to the character select. Immediately, Zidane went for Corrin.

And Prompto went straight for Kirby, smirking.

Mikoto hummed a bit as she clearly debated between Zelda and Sheik, before settling on the former, while Vivi immediately went for Robin.

“Alright! Ready to lose, Prom?”

“Hah! You wish,” the taller blonde scoffed with a wicked grin.

Mikoto and Vivi merely giggled/smiled as the game loaded, with the other two getting “in position” for the game. The second they started, Prompto and Zidane were immediately upon themselves, which really wasn’t that surprising. For a while, things seemed to be going about evenly for them… that is until Prompto got lucky and managed to KO him with a single swing of his mallet.

“Aw come on!!” Zidane cried out.

“Can’t help it, dude! I LOVE his mallet!” Prompto laughed.

“Prompto,” Mikoto said suddenly, “you should keep your eyes on the game.”

Which was exactly when Kirby was suddenly sucked into Zelda’s Final Smash.

“AH!! SHIT!!” Prompto swore, cringing as Kirby was KO’d by the attack.

“Hah!” Zidane laughed, even as they were both brought back for their second stock.

 

They spent at least a good half hour playing multiple matches, when Kuja finally came over to them. “Okay, kids, time to break it off for the moment. Food’s ready.”

“Alright,” Zidane said as they stopped the game they were currently in. As they got up, though, Zidane briefly turned to Prompto. “I’ll get you next time.”

“Sure, Zidane, sure,” Prompto snorted.

After everyone had taken their seats and the heat had been turned down to keep it warmed, but not boiling, Kuja grabbed an oven mitt, and, with a flourish, pulled the lid off the pan, releasing the delicious smell that had been contained within.

“That smells amazing!” Prompto exclaimed.

“Well, go ahead and scoop it up, then!” Zidane laughed as he passed Prom the ladle.

“I’m going, I’m going,” Prompto laughed, scooping some into a bowl for himself.

Once Prompto had scooped up his share, he passed it to Vivi, who followed his example a bit nervously. The twins were next to scoop up their portions, with Zidane doing it for his sister as well, with Kuja going last.

“Alright,” was the older’s calm call as he set the ladle down. “Enjoy~”

“Thanks, Kuja,” Prompto smiled, before taking a bite. “Holy Six, that’s delicious!” he grinned after swallowing.

“Glad you like,” Kuja chuckled as he lifted up a spoonful of his own, briefly blowing on it.

Zidane, meanwhile, didn’t seem to care about the heat and just kept eating at his usual rapid pace.

Prompto didn’t mind the heat, either, considering he was used to eating spicy and hot temperature food, himself.

Mikoto and Vivi, however, were much slower to work on their food, and seemed content to savor their dinner for as long as possible.

As he ate, Prompto suddenly remembered the statuette in Zidane’s room, and he decided to ask Kuja on it. “Hey Kuja,” he said, “where’d you get that little statuette in Zidane’s room?”

“Hmm?” Caught off guard, it took a bit for Kuja to process the question. “Oh, the Carbuncle statuette? It was something I was given years ago… I honestly can’t remember who got it for me, though…”

“Oh, okay. What’s it for?” Prompto asked.

“Supposedly, they’re meant to ward off bad dreams.”

“Really?” Prompto blinked, surprised. “That’s cool!”

“I suppose so,” Kuja admitted with a shrug, as he took another bite of his dinner.

“Well, maybe it’ll help me more tonight,” Prompto smiled before resuming eating.

“Wait… so why’d you not give that thing to Prompto?” Zidane asked of Kuja, frowning.

“Honestly, dear, I doubt it works as well as it does,” Kuja pointed out.

“How come?” Prompto frowned curiously.

Kuja merely shook his head. “Never mind… I’m rambling. Let’s just finish dinner.”

Prompto sighed, as he was genuinely curious to know now. “Mind explaining when we’re done, then?” he asked.

“Hmm… maybe,” was all the older man said calmly.

“All right…” the taller blonde murmured, returning to his meal.

 

Once they’d finished dinner and had put the remainder of their hotpot in a few containers, Kuja took the plates to the kitchen to wash them, with Prompto insisting that he’d help him. Initially, Kuja didn’t want to take the help, but the blonde was insistent, so in the end, the older man let him.

As Prompto worked on drying the plates, he asked again, “Kuja, how come you don’t think the statuette would work?”

Kuja hummed a bit, before he shook his head lightly. “Ah… from what I remember, I don’t think it would work on anyone but the person who it was given to. …or direct family.”

“Oh…” the blonde uttered, disappointed.

As he passed one of the bowls to Prompto, Kuja said: “Speaking of… Zidane mentioned you were doing better?”

“Yeah, the good dream streak is going well so far,” Prompto smiled.

“That’s good,” the older man said with a smile. “Let’s hope it stays that way, hm?”

“Yeah, definitely,” the teen agreed.

 

After Prompto finished helping Kuja clean up from dinner, he went upstairs to Zidane’s room to get ready for bed, since they had classes the next day. When he got there, Zidane was getting ready for bed, pulling out a change of clothes to sleep in.

“Hey,” Prompto said, so as not to alarm his friend as he went to his bag and pulled out his own sleep clothes to change into.

“Heyo,” Zidane said in return as he ditched his shirt in the hamper. “…Oh yeah. Feel free to take one of those containers tomorrow, if you want.”

“Cool, thanks,” Prompto said, pulling off his clothes and bagging them before pulling on his pajama pants and t-shirt.

Zidane didn’t seem to mind one way or the other, as he changed for bed, though he did briefly stretch his arms with a yawn. “Whew… welp, guess we oughta hit the hay so we don’t pass out at school… blegh.”

“Yeah, really,” Prompto snorted, before crawling under the covers and settling into the bed. “G’night, Zidane.”

“Night, Prom,” the other blonde said as he settled on the futon, clearly not at all bothered by the fact that he wasn’t in his own bed. Within moments, Zidane was fast asleep.

As Prompto laid in Zidane’s bed, he soon decided to retrieve Boco from his bag by the bed. Once he had said plush in his arms, he curled up once again before falling asleep.

 

Noctis sighed heavily as he flopped back onto his bed, beyond exhausted. It was like everything was working against him for some reason. Hell, even his usual training with Gladio had felt like it was meant to either exhaust him more than usual.

To make matters even worse, Ignis had been trying to sneak in carrots into his dinner. The jerk…

‘ _Ugh… whatever,_ ’ Noctis thought as he got under his blankets and settled in the bed. ‘ _Day’s over anyway… may as well go out there…_ ’

He wasn’t in any rush to go, though; he was sure Boco could hold back the nightmares until he got there. Because of this, it took him just a little longer than it normally did to form his Astral Projection properly. Once he had, he headed for the window and once again hopped out through it.

The trip along the roofs toward the boy’s house was mostly uneventful, though Noctis was tempted to pause at a few other houses to check on some dreams. Still, he made pretty good time to get there, hopping onto the roof easily.

‘ _…? Eh?_ ’

Frowning, Noctis moved toward the window and moved inside… to an empty room.

After a quick glance around the room, he noticed that, not only was the boy missing from the room, as was Boco. That alone was worrisome, but what was even more worrisome, was that Noctis couldn’t even hear any resonance in the building at all. It was almost like the house had been completely abandoned.

However, Noctis tried to shake off his fear to think of a more logical reason as to why the house would be abandoned as it was. ‘ _Maybe… maybe he’s out with his parents? That makes sense… I guess…_ ’

Sighing a bit, Noctis headed back out of the window. Given how late it had already gotten, there was no way that the boy was going to come back at this point, since tomorrow was a school day (if he wasn’t mistaking…).

He was definitely disappointed he wouldn’t get to see him tonight… but there was really no use in standing around doing nothing.

‘ _…Hope he’s okay…_ ’

 

_“Kweh~” a familiar call echoed, followed by a prod to Prompto’s shoulder._

_The blonde opened his eyes, and smiled up at Boco before sitting up. “Heya buddy,” he greeted, petting Boco’s head._

_“Kweh~” the Chocobo chirped happily, leaning into the touch._

_“Doing good, huh?” Prompto asked._

_“Kweh!” **Yep!**_

_“So, what are we doing tonight?” the teen asked._

_The small bird cooed a little, thinking, ‘scratching’ his head with his wing in thought. However, before he could answer…_

_“Pireh~”_

_“Dude, slow down will ya!”_

_“Noct? Zidane?” Prompto uttered, confused, before looking to the source of the calls along with Boco._

_As he lifted his head, though, it was just in time to spot a small blur of green leaping from one roof to the other, followed shortly by a cloaked figure._

_“Zidane! Down here!” Prompto yelled._

_There was no immediate response, but, finally, the figure from before came over to the edge of the roof, lifting their hood curiously to look down. And, sure enough, the face beneath the hood was that of his friend._

_“Eh? Oh, heyo, Prom,” he called out, as a small fox-like creature came up by his side, watching the other blonde with a curious tilt of the head._

_Unlike Noctis, this creature was a pale green color, even though he was definitely the same type as Noctis._

_‘ **Damn, and I thought I’d see him tonight, too…** ’ Prompto thought to himself, faintly disappointed. “Who’s this?” he asked, looking at the fox creature by Zidane’s side._

_“Hm? Oh, this’s Carby,” Zidane said with a grin as he crouched down. “So what you doing here?”_

_“That’s kinda what Boco here and I were gonna try to figure out. We usually have some fun during my sleep now,” Prompto smiled._

_The other blonde looked over to the Chocobo curiously, before he chuckled. “That so… well… how ‘bout you come along and join the Festival, eh?”_

_“Festival?” Prompto asked curiously._

_“Yeah. The Festival of the Hunt’s about to start!”_

_“What’s the Festival of the Hunt?” Prompto questioned._

_“It’s a festival to show off your hunting skills! /Duh!/”_

_“Pireh~”_

_Looking at Boco, Prompto asked, “What do you think, Boco?”_

_“Kweeeh…” Boco said slowly, before he smiled and bounced with a merry “Kweh~”_

_“All right, we’re in,” Prompto chuckled._

_“Nice~” Zidane laughed, before he abruptly jumped down._

_“Ah!” Prompto yelped as Zidane jumped._

_“KWEH!!”_

_However, just as suddenly, something slithered out from under the other’s cloak and snagged onto a flagpole. This, in turn, had Zidane spinning around it, before he effortlessly spun off of it to land on the ground._

_“What the…?” Prompto uttered, confused as hell._

_As Zidane bounced up to his feet, Prompto spotted something that seemed… out of place; the other blonde had a **tail!** A thin, furry monkey-like tail that swished about lightly behind him as he turned around, as Carby hopped down easily to land on Zidane’s shoulder. “Okay then! Let’s get a move on!” he laughed, right before he dashed off._

_“Wait up, dammit!” Prompto yelped, before dashing after his friend, with Boco scurrying after. “How the hell do you have a tail, dude?!” he demanded once he caught up._

_“Who gives a hoot?” Zidane laughed as he ran. “Don’t question it and just roll with it!”_

_Prompto sighed a little, but decided to do just that. “Whatever you say, man,” he said. Thank the Six he’d taken up running during his teens._

_Before long, they came up to what looked like some sort of square, where several more people were standing, clearly waiting for the festival to start._

_“Kweeeeh…”_

_“You okay, Boco?” Prompto asked the Chocobo worriedly._

_“Kweh~” the bird chirped. **Lot of people~**_

_“I know, but it’ll be okay,” the blonde assured his small friend._

_“Kweh!”_

_Zidane chuckled as he patted the blonde’s shoulder. “Hey, get ready to lose~” he chuckled._

_“I’ll beat your ass any day of the week, dude. We’ll see who really wins,” Prompto snorted._

_“Uh-huh, suuuure,” the other blonde chuckled, as Carby curled around his shoulders with a small chirp._

_Prompto scoffed lightly, but smiled down at Boco regardless. “We’ll at least give him a run for his gil, huh buddy?”_

_“Kweh!” **Yep-yep!**_

_“Nice,” Prompto chuckled, before waiting with Boco for them to start._

_Just then, there was a call from ahead of them, before someone blew on a horn and everyone scattered. Zidane laughed as he, too, ran off to do… whatever it was one did during this ‘Festival’. Prompto then left with Boco, wondering what the hell they were supposed to do now._

_As soon as they turned the corner, a wolf-like beast suddenly appeared before them, growling, right before it lunged._

_“KWEH!” Boco yelped, swiftly running forward and kicking it away._

_“Nice one, Boco!” Prompto praised. “Looks like we’re fighting for the Festival so we can win…”_

_Which was exactly when a screech came from above them._

_“Gah!” the blonde yelped, before whipping out his gun and shooting the two birds that were diving at them, killing them in those single shots._

_“Kweh!” Boco cheered._

_“Seems we gotta hunt down monsters for this Festival, Boco,” Prompto said, looking at his friend determinedly. “Let’s keep moving!”_

_“Kweh!” Boco agreed, currying after Prompto down the many streets._

_They ran around taking out a whole bunch of monsters, occasionally, running into other “hunters”, but mostly being on their own as they went._

_“Kweh!” the small Chocobo cried as he kicked a squirrel-like creature away from him._

_“Good job, buddy!” Prompto praised. “Now…let’s see here…” he mumbled to himself, looking around._

_Which was exactly when something suddenly smashed down into the ground behind them with a loud thud._

_“KWEH!”_

_“Ack!” Prompto choked out, before whipping around._

_And when he did, he immediately noticed the coeurl that had clearly been smushed against the ground, with Zidane perched on its corpse with a pair of deep red daggers in his hands. “Heyo~” he said by way of greeting._

_“Did you have to scare the crap out of us, dude?!” Prompto pouted._

_“Not my fault,” Zidane laughed, as Carby hopped down to land on the other’s shoulders with a chipper “Pireh~”_

_“Whatever, man,” Prompto huffed. Looking at Boco, he asked, “Ready to keep on going, buddy?”_

_“Kweh~” Boco cheered, hurrying after Prom as Zidane also ran off again._

_“Now, let’s find a larger monster this time…” Prompto murmured, trying to find one._

_“Kweh!” Boco agreed as they headed back to the square where they had started -- just before a large roar echoed from the other end of it._

_“Ah!” Prompto yelped, before running with Boco to the source of the roar._

_When they got there, Zidane was suddenly thrown back into Prompto, sending both of them to the ground with yelps of surprise/pain._

_“Gah!”_

_“Oww…” Prompto groaned, before looking at Zidane. “Were you seriously trying to take something huge on by yourself?! Let’s take it down together!”_

_“Ugh… yeah might be smart…” Zidane growled as he climbed back to his feet, as the massive beast roared at them in obvious anger._

_“Let’s do this!” Prompto growled, pulling out his gun and firing a few shots at the beast, as Zidane lunged forward, ducking to the side as it roared and threw its head out to try and hit him._

_Grinning, the shorter blonde snapped out both daggers, digging into the beast’s side and making it scream in pain._

_“Oh hi there, opening!” Prompto grinned, firing a piercing shot into the beast’s head._

_This made it scream loudly, just before Boco suddenly came up to its side and kicked it to the ankle with an angry squawk. That, in turn, had the beast turning on the small bird with a roar._

_“KWEH!!”_

_“Boco!!” Prompto cried out in alarm._

_However, before it could reach Boco, the beast seemed to bounce off of some sort of shield, making it stagger back._

_“Huh?” the taller blonde uttered, confused._

_“Pireh~” Carby chirped as he hopped up onto Boco’s head, the crystal on his head glowing a pure ruby color._

_“Thanks, Carby!” Prompto called when he realized the small creature had made the shield._

_“Kweh~” Boco chipped in thanks, hopping back as Zidane got around to its back and ripped through its tendons._

_“Here we go…!” Prompto growled, before firing several more shots at the beast’s head._

_The beast roared out in agony, staggering, before it hit the ground with a heavy thud._

_“Nice!” Zidane laughed._

_“We did it!” Prompto grinned._

_“Yes!!” Zidane laughed, as the two high-fived each other, as Boco hopped about, cheering happily._

_Prompto grinned happily, glad they’d taken down such a large target together like that._

_Boco chirped as he scurried over, clearly as thrilled as the humans were, while Carby was giggling happily._

_Once the group sobered up, Prompto asked, “So…who won?”_

_“Not sure, to be fair,” Zidane admitted as he looked around. “Should be ending soon, though…”_

_“Ah, okay,” the taller blonde nodded._

_Just then, there was a loud horn sound, making them both look in the direction of the sound._

_“TIME!!” came the shout of what had to be the announcers._

_“Sounds like it’s over,” Prompto commented._

_“Yep.”_

_“Let’s go see who won,” Prompto smiled._

_“Sounds like a plan~” Zidane laughed, leading the way down the path as he sheathed his daggers._

_Prompto walked along with his friend and Boco, idly wondering who won._

_As they reached the starting area, it was just in time to hear the announcer calling out: “…for the first time ever, we have a TIE!!”_

_Prompto blinked, surprised, before looking to Zidane, who looked back in equal surprise, before they both looked back._

_“This year’s winners are… Prompto Argentum and Zidane Tribal!!”_

_Startled, the pair almost didn’t react as the crowd burst out into cheers. “…Okay, that works.”_

_“I’ll take it,” Prompto laughed._

_Zidane hummed a bit, before he chuckled and nodded. “Well, it’s not a loss, so yeah, sounds good.”_

_“Wonder what the prize is…” Prompto murmured._

_As the pair walked up to the announcer, with Boco and Carby close behind._

_“Here you go, Mr. Tribal,” the announcer said as he passed Zidane a satchel that jingled loudly._

_“Nice!” Zidane laughed as he tossed the bag up a bit, while Carby hopped up and curled around his neck._

_‘ **What do I get, then…?** ’ Prompto wondered idly._

_“Now then… for Mr. Argentum…” the man started, but he paused to gesture to behind himself. As Prompto stepped to the side a bit to try and see what was up, it was just in time to see a Chocobo just like Boco toddling over, chirping merrily. This Chocobo, although it looked similar to Boco, was instead donning a dragon-like helmet, with purple-ish wings along the sides, and a royal purple cape with a silver and black decorative front piece._

_“Oh!” Prompto gasped. “Hi there, buddy,” he smiled at the new arrival as he got down to the Chocobo’s level._

_Boco blinked curiously, before a smile spread over his face and he moved over, chirping in greeting to the other Chocobo._

_The other Chocobo chirped back cheerfully, before looking at Prompto._

_“Kweh!” **Nice to meet you!**_

_“Nice to meet you, too,” Prompto chuckled. “What’s your name?”_

_“Kweh~” **I’m Cain. I’m looking forward to adventuring with you!**_

_“Same here, Cain, same here,” Prompto smiled happily._

_“Kweh~” Boco cheered happily as he bounced on his talons. **Yay~ More friends!**_

_“Always good to have a lot of close friends, huh?” Prompto agreed, looking back at Zidane knowingly._

_“Hahah! Yeah, definitely!” the shorter blonde agreed, as Carby chirped and hopped over onto Cain’s helmet, giggling as he settled there._

_“Hey Zidane, mind showing us around? Since you seem to know the area more and all,” Prompto asked._

_Zidane blinked curiously, before grinning. “Yeah sure! Let’s start walking around!”_

_“Cool,” Prompto smiled, before he followed after Zidane, Cain and Boco close behind, with Carby still perched on Cain’s helmet._

_None of them were aware of a pair of watchful eyes that followed their path until they were out of sight, after which the figure quietly disappeared into the alleys, white cloth fluttering behind them and heels clicking as they went._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the new Chocobo, think Dragoon/Dragon Knight Job Chocobo.


End file.
